Over Time
by The Black Gryphon
Summary: Time and space has a funny way of pushing/shoving people together. Hinata wasn't quite sure she wanted any part in it, but as always, she was never given a say.
1. Arrival

**Author's Notes, part 1:** I'm going to warn you all now, I have no Beta-writer and have more cob-webs on my writing muse then a haunted house does. I don't expect this to be my perfect comeback to writing, but I'll try. To be honest, i've got 3-4 chapters of this story already written out, but with my lack of confidence in my skills, it'll be unlikely i'll be doing mass updates.

Another thing to note is how, in this story, I try not to use japanese words, other then -sama/-san and the like. I could, but I feel like it'll detract from the story if I abused it too much. Also, please bear with me with the pace of the romance portion of this story goes; I don't think love at first sight is going to happen very quickly with the two (Hinata is amazingly difficult to write) main characters, and there IS a heavy dose of OOC in here (But that is more in my personal opinion and I could be very wrong...). Erm, i'll stop rambling here.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any copyrighted characters or ideas. End of story.

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**Over time**

* * *

It had only 5 days since she had last left her home to come to the wind swept lands of Sunagakure, and already Hinata felt as if she had been gone for far too long. Being alone in a village where the most she had in relationships was very vague acquaintances made her uneasy. There was no Kiba to pull her out of her shell, no Shino to comfort her racing mind, no friends to drag her with their chaotic ways, and no family here to greet her when she came home, even if it was cold welcome. Without these comforts, Hinata found herself to be spending her time on idle thoughts and darkened outlooks. She truly didn't wish to be here, much less here for an entire year. But the order had been given by a glowing Hokage, blue eyes full of confidence and a bright grin on his face. Part of her wondered if he noticed how violently her hands were shaking when he pressed the red rimmed scroll into waiting hands. The other part wished she never even considered agreeing.

"Hyuuga-sama, the council has prepared a separate room for your screening. If you could please…" Gruff words to her right startled Hinata and her shoulders jumped, but she forced herself not to scream in fright. Turning her body slightly in her chair, she nodded softly before she pushed off the chair to follow the man Hinata assumed to be her escort, down several flights of stairs, and stopped in front of a wooden door. Hinata let her hand curl around the handle, and then shut her eyes, utterly terrified about what was about to happen. This time biting her bottom lip, she took a few quick breaths, desperately trying to calm herself down. It was procedure. Every other person in her place had to face this indignity. She WOULD get through this, for the sake of her beloved home, oh so far way. Hours seemed to tick by, and slowly, Hinata gathered her nerves and turned the knob.

Upon entering, Hinata noted that the room was windowless and for the most part dark, a single lamp hanging overhead in the center of the room being the only source of light. Her heart jumped again and she almost backed out, but her body moved automatically forward. Entering the spotlight, she heard the door click shut, and the shuffling of feet and bodies. If she wanted to, Hinata could of easily used her family's blood limit to see past the glaring darkness which seemed intensified by the only light source overhead and to see the identify the people around her. She did not, if only because she had nothing to hide.

"Hyuuga Hinata-sama, to ensure that you and your country's are pure," A familiar voice began, the tone clearly indicating that the woman speaking thought little of the formal procedures, "We ask for your full corporation with the customary procedures. When you are ready, please raise both your arms so we may begin." A moment to collect her thoughts and calm her fluttering heart, Hinata raised both arms parallel to her arms and tried not to flinch as two hooded women, or at least she prayed they were female, appeared at her side. Their wrinkled hands made motions and she felt the chakra draining restraints latch onto her wrists like greedy leeches. Both whispered something under their breaths and began to unbuckle the straps to her protective vest. Though she knew better, Hinata's cheeks flushed and she tried not to cringe when her clothes began to flutter to the floor. From the corner, the scratching of pen against clipboard, an occasional grumble, and a muttered whisper to someone who did not respond. Hinata exhaled loudly as the bindings around her chest fluttered away, and she began to count the seconds silently in her head.

The inspection had taken 2034 seconds, roughly, to finish. It took her less then 149 seconds to shove everything back on in an unlit corner of the room. Finally, far too quickly to count, Hinata was ushered out and a much relieved Temari to forcefully pull her outside of the building, into the crowded streets, and into the nearest bar. Unable to take into account how she was more or less transported from point A to point B by someone she had very little personal history with, Hinata barely recognized orders being given out and a glass slammed in front of her.

"Drink." Temari barked out before her own shot was inhaled. The idea of imitating the intimidating blond crossed her mind, but Hinata decided to just toy with her glass before taking a small sip. The clear liquid burned and made her breath feel oddly citrusy, just with no taste. Wincing as she let the rest of her single mouthful burn all the way down, she eyed the Sand jonin warily.

"That lazy idiot mentioned you were coming in his last letter. Figured you'd need a drink after the strip-down." Another gulp of a refilled glass, "The old bastards pull out all the rulebooks the moment and pretty young woman walks in. Perverts, the whole lot of them." Hinata choked on the second sip of the mysterious clear liquid, and gave Temari a look of horror. She had been blissfully unaware that, unlike Konoha, there were no limitations on who was allowed to view the inspection. If her father ever heard this, or even worse, Neji-nii-san… Her forehead touched the cool wood of the bar and she let loose a low groan. No, it would not do her any good to envision the utter chaos her cousin would invite…

Temari, all the while, watched the waif of a shinobi from the corner of her eye. The poor thing hardly looked able to hurt a fly, much less enforce her will on behalf of Konohagakure, but she couldn't discount the fact that looks never were a good indicator of skill and the level of threat she could induce. The Hyuuga's body had been littered with extremely faint scars, the most noticeable one being a circular discoloration, below her left breast. The girl was no simple noblewoman, that's for sure.

"Finish your drink already." muttered Temari, as she savored the third drink of the night. When the flustered woman didn't lift her head, the sand-nin called upon the small details that Shikamaru had mentioned in his report, about how to coax the woman beside her into actually talking.

"So, what's with the little claw marks down your back? Rambunctious lover?" Hinata's head shot up with an indignant and far to loud no. When she realized that her outburst had caught the attention of the rest of the small bar's patrons, she coughed softly and tried to pass it off with by drinking her first shot of the night. Temari couldn't quite stop the grin on her face, as she continued.

"Interesting birthmark you got on your inner thigh, looked like some kinda feather. Anyone else got an opinion on that?" It was very apparently that, no, no one else knew of her particular birthmark, Temari snickered as Hinata flinched and tried to cover the look of horror with another attempt at swallowing her drink. "Also, did you also know that when your blush, it goes all the way to your…" Hack. Sputter.

"Temari-san!" The look on the Leaf nin's face was just so priceless, it tore into Temari's sides. No longer able to hide it, the sand-nin burst out laughing. Hinata tried to look insulted, but even her lips turned upwards at little. Temari made a mental note to thank whomever this Kiba kid Shikamaru mentioned was for the helpful tip on how to get the damn girl to open up quickly.

* * *

Night turned into day and Hinata found herself wishing once again that she was back home, but not for the reasons she had been brooding about the night before. The flowing robes, the heavy silk denoting her station and blood, were smothering her, even in the air conditioned tower. It almost felt like the heat of the sun had melted into the fine threads, her body threatening to crumble under the heat. Her forehead crinkled as she refocused her mind on keeping perfectly still. Passing out would not go well, especially when the person in question is the sole representative of their homeland and the beloved Hokage. She could feel her hair being shifted, folded over itself, while the small bell, hidden tracker and all, in the Kazekage's hand desperately tried to make noise in his hands.

His hands are unusually unscarred for someone with so much experience, she mused as she quickly steadied herself. Even her own hands had the remains of the small knicks and scrapes of the standard shinobi's training, even though the common belief within her family was that the hands were to be taken care of before all else. She doubted that they'd be smooth like hers, but they were most likely far less abrasive then Kiba's. Her head jerked automatically to shake her head clear of the thoughts, until a twang of pain stopped her thoughts. Eyes darted up and pearly white clashed with faded sea green, and for the first time in the last 135 hours, time seemed to stop completely. All seeing eyes couldn't see anything in his barely lit ones that seemed to question why.

Before she could exactly question what he meant, his eyes dropped and continued weaving the pale blue cord into her hair, as if silently reprimanding her for interrupting the procedure. Letting go of her held breath, she let her eyes close shut, mortified with her actions. Minutes passed and finally the braid was finished, the silken cord slipping from the Kagekage's fingers. Warm metal bounced off her neck and the bell's chime reminded Hinata to stand, head still low to the ground. Stepping back, she thanked him and turned, hands dropping to her sides, only to fold in front of her. The bell rang in time with her quiet footsteps as she exited the room, only pausing to turn her head slightly to stare back at the boy no older then she, yet seemed to have far more years of pain to shoulder. Blond hair, blue eyes flashed in her mind's eye, and an ache blossomed in her chest. Unclasping her hands, she pressed one hand over where it ached and clawed against the heavy silk.

"Naruto… kun."

* * *

Her hair was like soft, feeling like smooth silk. Perhaps that was what all noble born girls shared in common. Gaara flexed his hand and then meshed his fingers together, leaning his chin on them as he waited for Temari to reappear from wherever she slinked off to whenever he wished to be 'alone'.

"What do you think of Hyuuga-san?" Temari questioned as she approached Gaara from the other side of his desk. A soft hn was her answer, before he leaned back in his chair.

"Unimpressive." If Gaara were to really think about his assessment, he would of found it not entirely true; He really couldn't pass judgment. The Hyuuga female's appearance suggested she was ill-suited for fighting and previous knowledge of her skills that they were below average at best, but his information on the Hyuuga clan's members were far from up-to-date. Temari pursed her lip in thought and tilted her head, catching Gaara's attention.

"I don't really agree with that but…." She began but flinched when Gaara interrupted her, his tone only a touch softer then usual.

"She was trembling that whole time."

"… Geez… For once, I think all that paperwork's addled your brain there. That's why I keep telling you to take a god dam-"

"_Temari_…."

"Fine, I get the point. Oi, Kankuro, get in here already."

"What is it, I'm busy enough as it." Kankuro growled as he peaked back in the room, arms overloaded with scrolls and papers. Temari just gave him a look, one that just said _Just get in here idiot _and began to sift through the scrolls. Kankuro grumbled again before glancing back out the door.

"That's the new ambassador from Konohagakure? Wonder how long she'll last." Picking up a scroll to his side, Gaara opened it and only half listened to his siblings as they chatted amongst themselves. He almost stopped listening completely when he recognized something in the tone that suggested amusement.

"I say 6 days." 6 days… for what?

"Give Hyuuga-san some credit. I mean How many layers do you think she was wearing? Kinda a waste, I mean, come on, hiding all that under that out-of-date outfit? I'd do her in a heartbeat. 9 days." That was an odd question. Lifting his eyes from the scroll, Gaara gave his sister a blank look again before it dawned on him. Chuckling, Temari slapped a scroll down on top of his paperwork, shoo'd her pack mule out, and turned to leave.

"3 days." Turning her head back, Temari glanced back at her brother who was once more focusing on the scroll in his hand, before shrugging and walking out.

* * *

It took Hinata 8 days to oh so politely send her father a message demanding that he send every piece of clothing worn from late spring to mid summer, and next time he ordered her to wear something like the heavy formal robes in the god forsaken **desert**, then come and wear it himself, THEN tell her what in the freakin' world was proper about it.

Perhaps it would have been wise of her to rethink her request, but at the time, she was hot, sticky, and frustrated with worrying that she was starting to sweat herself to death. She promptly regretted it when she realized that it had been Hanabi who had, with much glee (and lack of care with the folding), packed her clothes. Hinata was quite sure she didn't originally possess so many mesh shirts and colorful undergarments and that her second favorite jacket had not been included.

But at least she had more suitable clothes. Now all she could do was count the days as they rolled by.

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**Author's Note, part 2:** Reviews are nice?


	2. Observations

AN: Since I'm on Chapter 5, it seems a fair tradeoff to give you people (if there is indeed, anyone reading this) Chapter 2. It's kinda hard to tell without much input. (mimichan88, winterkaguya, Jitchoo, your reviews were well welcome, and much appreciated!) Ironically, I think the current chapter i'm working on is getting darker. And wordier. Gahhhh. I need new mood music.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; Not the characters, the scenery, NOTHING.

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**Over time**

Chapter two: Observations**  
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A month into her year long ambassadorship, the young Hyuuga couldn't help but notice a few things about the Kagekaze. (When one spent 20+ hours a week with him, arguing and pointing out things, it was bound to happen.)

First of all, he was not unreadable. In fact you could, once you recognized the warning signs, call him very predictable (at least when it came to business).

Second of all, while he didn't talk often, he could talk at length. It seemed that it took patience and gentle prodding, you could get him to elaborate. If he thought you daft or uninterested as a result, she still didn't know, however.

Thirdly, if you see him blink more then once every 18 seconds, then he was actually listening to you.

Fourth, if you ever see his right hand twitch in response to an inquiry or an argument, shut up. If you were sitting near the person and it concerned something you were involved with, politely interrupt and offer an alternate opinion. If that doesn't work, drink your tea and wait for the Kazekage to take of it. If it twitched twice, shift to your left or right.

The fifth thing to remember was whenever you notice his handwriting turn into something that barely could count as chicken scratch, smile sweetly and make an excuse that you're tired and wish to reschedule. Make sure to add afterwards that you wish him a good night, and pray the next day he took the advice. If he didn't by the time of your next appointment, bite your tongue and try to decipher the codes. That… or hope that Temari knocked him unconscious for you. Then reschedule whenever he crawled out of the hole everyone assumed he slept in.

Finally, if you notice his left eye twitch at any point in time, avoid any and every form of persuasion and try and logically work your way out of this bind.

Not that Hinata was specifically watching him all the time, it was just that perhaps it was the most important person to take hints from other then essential rule that when Council member Sarubuta was present one should bind their chest to appear as flat as possible. Being unable to breath properly was far more preferable to having a letch stare and oogle your ample 'assets' like a starved pig does a pile of fruit. Exhaling choppily, she leaned back into her chair, pen held loosely in her hands. The mantle clock chimed five times and she grimaced. The sun would be setting soon, she hadn't finished the trade proposal over the base rate of rice based imports. Since it would officially be the weekend in 12 minutes (give or take), she expected to be lured of her temporary apartment by a persistent blond and her brunette cohort.

Biting her lip, she put pen to paper and tried not to listen to the ticking of the clock. 3 minutes and 31 seconds later, the a knock echoed through the room. Wait, Temari and Kankuro never ever knocked. Puzzled, Hinata pushed her chair back and exited the study, and focused, letting the door fade away. The person on the other side wasn't one she was expecting, nor did she want to see considering the amount of gifts. Another attempt to try and get her to agree to allow his son to try and tempt her into giving her hand in marriage. Shuddering, Hinata turned back to her study, quietly closing the door and praying the man would assume that she was not in her quarters and leave.

Settling back into the chair, she pulled out a book and idly began to flip through the pages, occasionally taking the time to scribble down notes on a piece of paper. 14 minutes later, Hinata placed her pen down, and moved to turn a page back, unable to decide on what to focus on when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise. Picking up the pen loosely, she waited a moment before twisting her body upwards, chair slamming backwards as she launched the pen like a senbon needle. Only to panic as it sunk into a wall of sand before it hit the one person she never imagined to be there in her study. Ever. Oh… dear…

"K-Kazekage-sama! I didn't kn-kn-know that you were… were. I mean I didn't…I'm so-"

"Come."

"Eh?" When the kazekage simply ignored her surprised outburst and turned to leave, Hinata found herself stumbling after him after picking up the chair and pushing it forward until it hit the desk with a thump. Outside her door, Hinata found herself sighing in relief briefly as she found Temari and Kankuro standing outside her door, with an exuberant Matsuri addressing her mentor as he exited the small apartment quietly. On quick inspection, Hinata noted that there was sand in the lock, which explained how in the world the red-head had gotten in so quietly. Kankuro would threaten to kick down the door if she didn't come out in a timely manor while Temari would try to flush her out with embarrassing threats. Both methods took time and if anything, the Kazekage hated waiting if he could help it, which thus explained why he was the one to retrieve her. Quick and efficient. Slipping the key into the lock, she turned it till it clicked and then quickly formed some seals, securing the small apartment to the best of her ability. Greeting her captors, she smiled softly as Matsuri and Temari ushered her down the hall, the two men following, one grumbling loudly and the other as quiet as death.

* * *

Outside of work, Hinata noticed the Kazekage's demeanor changed almost drastically. Outwardly it was still the same stoic, emotionless face, but how his eyes would dart from side to side occasionally as if he wasn't comfortable in public in the non-official way. Unless questioned by the three other members of the party, he did not respond to questions or comments, and even when he did, it was painfully brief. Swirling the unnaturally green liquid in her cup, Hinata crinkled her nose at the thought of drinking it. It smelt unnaturally sweet (and she did like sweets) but tasted like a bitter poison. It had been at Matsuri's suggestion she try it, and now she regretted agreeing to. One sip to be courteous would do.

"Oh stop sulking and say something already!" Kankuro whined at Gaara when he refused to talk for the umpteenth time. When he received a glare over the rim of the cup, Kankuro settled for scowling back, which for some reason, made Hinata giggle unexpectantly. The drink must have been stronger then she thought and she flushed bright red.

"What's so funny, Hina-chan?" Kankuro almost purred, quickly switching gears from glowering at his unresponsive brother to flirting halfheartedly with their guest.

"A-ah, nothing important." She tried to let it trailed off, mumbling a bit, but now she had gotten the attention of Matsuri and Temari as well.

"Gotta be something interesting." Temari stated, a grin forming as Matsuri raised an eyebrow.

" Erm…you just reminded me of how my sister and Neji-nii-san… bicker." Hinata admitted, flushing as she played with her cup.

"…Compliment or insult?" Kankuro questioned, not quite getting the joke (truthfully no one did).

"Erm. I don't know?" Hinata struggled to act innocent. It was painfully obvious that, no, it was not a compliment.

"Never mentioned much about your sister, though we all know your cousin needs to pull the giant redwood tree out of his ass." A quick gulp and Temari cocked her head, a grin on her face at the look of horror on the leaf nin's face.

"Neji-nii-san isn't that bad he's just…"

"Stuffy?"

"A total dick?"

"Too proud for his own good?" Oddly enough the last comment came from the Kazekage himself. Hinata blinked; she didn't think he was actually listening.

"Very confident in his abilities. And perhaps too overprotective." Hinata corrected them all, though in the back of her mind she knew that the three assumptions were at least partially correct. She just hoped she wasn't giving Matsuri a bad impression of her cousin. "Hanabi is worse… maybe. She's…"

"Fuck no, save us, there's TWO of them!" Kankuro blurted out.

"That's not it at all! Plus… plus… I don't think Neji-niisan… likes to be… coddled?" The wide smirks on the two older sand shinobis told Hinata that she had just said something terribly amusing. Even Gaara's mouth had turned up a tad. Her hands twitched and fiddled with her fingers, her face practically glowing as she regretted even opening her mouth. She moved to take another sip of her drink out of desperation when she realized something. Stopping the cup at her lips, she put it down again.

"Sooo, boyfriend at home?" Matsuri, wanting to feel like part of the situation, grinned at Hinata, who jumped slightly. Hinata shook her head, and then frowned as the room blurred a bit.

"F-f-for now, it is not in my best interests to… get involved with other people."

Matsuri frowned, though she nodded as if she understood. "Well maybe you just haven't met that special person yet?" Temari rolled her eyes slightly at this, knowing how thinly veiled the intent was. Hinata, however, had an unusual expression. Her eyes seemed to cloud over, becoming dull as faded chalk. The girl rolled an invisible marble in her mouth, as if she was swallowing something even more bitter then her drink. All eyes were on her, but she didn't care as the dull ache in her chest began to claw and rip into her heart again.

"I…" The girl stopped, forehead scrunching as if it was suddenly hard to talk. Almost instinctively, her hand moved towards her chest before it stopped and she let it clutch her other hand, nails digging deep into skin. "It would be… I suppose… it is somewhat… pointless."

"Eh? But why not? I'm sure every girl out there dreams of falling in love with that perfect guy, especially if he's sure to protect them forever, and..." Matsuri began, only to stop when Hinata made a soft choked noise. Slowly the pale woman shifted her way out of the round booth and stepped down to leave, only to smile at no one, eyes hidden.

"We of the Hyuuga clan have a saying; To fall in love is like crushing your own wings to dust." Her voice was barely louder then a whisper, her tone dead, "Marry for power, for family, not for yourself and you will die safe in your bed." Bowing quickly, she turned to leave, and this time her hand did claw at her chest. Hinata needed to get away quickly, before her loose tongue dealt any more damage.

* * *

As Hinata left the bar, Matsuri and Temari shared a look while Kankuro scowled at the both of them. "What the hell brought THAT up?"

"Well, at least we can confirm something." Temari said moodily, before pulling a half empty vial from her pouch. "Hyuuga Hinata has been drugged quite a bit in her life."

Both Gaara and Kankuro raised an eyebrow at their sister and comrade. Shaking the liquid in the bottle, Temari poured the rest into the nearly full cup left behind.

"It's a pretty potent sleeping drug and there was enough to make the girl pass out within minutes in a sip. Not only did she NOT fall asleep, just get as groggy our dear brother here after a few days (which I'll add, stop doing that you idiot), she realized a least something was off when she moved to take another mouthful. Guess I got to pay up my bet with that lazy idiot when I see him next." Matsuri sighed loudly as Temari finished her explanation, before blinking. Gaara had placed his elbows on the table, a intense look on his face.

"The reason for drugging the ambassador and putting our relations with our allies at risk?" He asked quietly, his eyes easily displaying his annoyance at the attempt to ruin ties with one of their closest allies. Temari snorted and shot back an equally annoyed glare.

"One, Hinata-san obviously hasn't been sleeping well for the last few days, at least. Two, Matsuri and I got some heads up on the girl FROM Konoha. And finally three, you better replace the guys monitoring her with someone, I don't know, competent." Temari scooted out of the booth, grumbling. Kankuro sighed and wordlessly followed his elder sister out, giving a grunt to the younger and a smile to Matsuri. Matsuri squirmed in her seat and played with her glass, before carefully asking Gaara what was wrong. Gaara didn't answer, lost in his thoughts.

* * *

When Hinata came in the following week, she acted as if nothing had happened. An odd reaction, Gaara noted as he watched enter his office from the corner of his eye. But then again, he did not expect complete normalcy from her, not from what he had observed about her. The woman had surprised him plenty of times in the first few weeks to make him be on guard and this had proven very useful.

"Hyuuga-san." She jumped a little as he addressed her suddenly mid-speech. Like a jumpy little wildcat, she took a step back and hugged the folder to her chest. Mentally rolling his eyes, he sighed loudly and sat up straighter in his chair. He wasn't interested in the visiting kohona squads due to pass through the upcoming weeks, at least it wasn't on the top of his priorities. He may as well get to the point, since he knew for a fact that she wasn't stupid, just abnormally timid.

"Why are you not bringing up last week's incident?" Gaara asked bluntly, staring straight at her. She fidgeted in place, uncomfortable when she was the topic.

"I… that is… I-I didn't feel that it was…" Suddenly the door slammed open, a smiling old man walking in with a scroll in his hand.

"Kazekage, I have the report you asked for, and my, don't you look ravishing today, my dear flower?" The man nearly purred in Hinata's direction, placing the scroll down on Gaara's desk before forcefully grabbing and kissing her hand.

"Omishi-sama, you flatter me unnecessarily." Hinata whispered softly, eyes staring at the floor.

"Such a demure little lady, are you not? I flatter you no more then you deserve." The overweight man grinned, ignoring Hinata's flinch as he let his thumb rub circles against her skin. Hinata couldn't completely hide her cringe at the feeling of those dry, rough lips scraping at her skin, but when the man stood up, still holding her hand, she tried her best to smile.

"Your praise is appreciated, but…" Hinata began, trying to redirect the conversation, but Omishi prattled on as if she had said nothing.

"Have you considered letting my dear Daisuke partake in your company? I assure you, he is as handsome as you are beautiful. A lovely couple, you two would make, and it would comfort this poor man's heart to have such a doting daughter like you to take care of me in my own age…"

More like you'd love to exploit her family ties and add more to your coffers, Lord Omishi, Gaara frowned as his hand twitched before shifting loudly, catching the old man off guard and allowing Hinata to snatch her hand back, discretely brushing it against her cotton pants.

"If that is all, Omishi, you are dismissed." Gaara ordered, earning a look of annoyance from the Lord who stormed out pausing only to giving a winning smile at the woman. When the door closed once again, Hinata couldn't help but exhale in relief, this time purposely rubbing her hand against her jacket.

"You should just refuse outright if his attention displeases you." Gaara said quietly, hand outstretched for the folder she held against her chest. Hinata blinked before holding out the folder, a soft smile on her face. Fingers brushed and slowly moved away.

"I'm used to it." Hinata replied simply, smile flattening a tad. Moments passed by for Gaara tried to decipher what the look on her face was when her shoulders jumped and she reached into her one of the pockets on her chest guard and pulled out a small blue rimed scroll.

"Ah, Kazekage-sama, this also was sent to my residence for you. I believe that it is a personal letter from Naruto-sama." Their fingers brushed again and she bowed and made to leave. He was a man who valued privacy after all. Opening the seal, he let his eyes scan the sloppily written letter and then sighed. Naruto was impulsive as always, with his sudden announcement about visiting Suna and Gaara in just a few days. There was an after note stating that the Hyuuga would be leaving just a day before him for a few days that demanded her talent, and not to worry, it was Just an B-rank (Just? Since when was a B-rank mission just anything?) and she would be back in a few days afterwards.

Re-rolling the scroll, he flipped open the ambassador's report. Unlike the bold, messy handwriting of the Hokage, the woman's was controlled and precise. None of the strokes were wasteful except for the occasional extra upstroke at the very end of a character. Memorizing the names of the squad leaders, some famous, other of little to no worth, before closing the folder and pushing it to the side. Gaara frowned as he caught himself rubbing his fingers together, his mind recalling how much cooler her fingers were compared to his. He also realized that she had totally avoided his question. This Hyuuga was definitely one to watch, with her ability to manipulate people with gentle smiles and soft, lulling words. She wasn't one to abuse it, thankfully, which smoothed away the inking of distrust. She was quiet, calm, yet thoughtful, as if just waiting to react and press for small advantages. Like a shadow, she listened and only commented if needed. If Gaara was the type of man who considered potential mates (He had no delusions of ever marrying. He'd leave Temari and Kankuro to further their blood line.), she would do best as the wife of someone in power; the pretty face in the limelight who whispered wise words to her husband behind a fan. Reaching for the next scroll, Gaara quickly forgot about the Hyuuga for a time and focused on serving the residents of his village to the best of his ability.

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AN: Do I really need to beg? Reviews are much appreciated!


	3. Pleasantries

**Author's Note:** I admit, this chapter is longer then I'd thought it'd be. And personally, i'm actually somewhat proud of a few points of this chapter. It only makes me cringe when i re-read my first two chapters though. Eventually I am going to rewrite the first two chapters, but for now, i'll leave them be (actually, i'm starting to hate the title too...). Particular thanks go to mimichan88; without your input, there would of been a glaring plothole as big as my car in the story. Though this most likely means fast updates are so not in the future. *sly grin*. The usual warnings about OOC characters apply; I still have no idea how to write them out.

And also, yes I know, I'm SLOW when it comes to romance, but I promise, it's coming. As well as a reason for me to up the rating of this story XD

Copyright info: As usual, Not mine, i'm just making a mess of things.

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**Over time**

Chapter 3: Pleasantries

* * *

Hinata sighed softly as she left the Kazekage alone. Dodging Matsuri all together in a hopeful attempt to avoid the onslaught of questions she was overdue to be asked, she fairly sped through the sand covered streets until she was safe in the embassy hallways. In only 3 more days, Hinata would be called away for a time to hunt down a nameless person of importance, and once again in her own comfort zone (at least for a short time, but even this small offering was welcomed). Kiba and Shino would be by her side once again, and she could finally feel safe. Truthfully, she did understand why Temari had gone to the lengths she had to try and drug her, but it did not make it any less bitter. It was, Hinata supposed, Temari's job to sniff out traitors and assassins. But, things like that did nothing but make her all the more wary of the people of Suna... though Kankuro had flat out said he had no part in it (and she believed him). Hinata didn't like it, having to look over her shoulder and analyze everything, around people that she should have been able to trust. Slipping into her quarters, she quickly shut the door and locked it from the inside. After taking a quick look around the rooms, Hinata quietly opened the balcony doors and sat on the rocky floor of the balcony. Leaning her head and shoulders against the railing, she let her shoulders sag a little.

Letting her eyes close, she mentally began to recount how many times she had been drugged, bound, and even dragged by strange men with greedy eyes. How many, she wondered, how many family members did she lose at that time? Her father, while cold as the others then, cared enough not to tell her. While the kidnapping attempts had stopped for the most part after achieving genin status, all the chaos had left it's mark. And all for what?

Her blood? her eyes?

If she could of, Hinata would of gladly traded away her pearl-like eyes of muddy brown ones, but what would that really accomplish?

Nothing.

Even without her eyes, she still had her name, a name that men with the same greedy, overbearing eyes would chase after her for. She could hide her body all she wanted, mutter all she could as if she mentally crippled, and they would still say she was attractive. Hinata felt herself choke back a sob, before curling her arms around her knees. She was trying, wasn't she? Trying not to appear weak, to let her friends and countrymen down, trying so hard not to be a failure in the utmost sense. Hinata hung her head in shame; No, it wasn't only that. She knew, somewhere in her heart, she needed to prove herself, but to whom?

When she was younger, Hinata could not even turn the head of the one she loved for more then a moment. Even with her death, she would of only been a footnote to him, so she settled for her hopeless admiration, even going so far to help him make Sakura understand how right they were together. Hinata's world barely extended beyond the forests at times, but she was content with what little she had. She dove in her training, strengthening her body and distracting her thoughts. In this hazy little world, she grew strong along side her best friends, and fooled herself into thinking that everything would be alright. So what if she wasn't the heir anymore? As long as she had her friends and they trusted in her, she could smile. Then the real world had to come crashing down the moment she turned 18.

News of her coming of age attracted many suitors, who didn't understand the concept of personal space. Their eyes were all the same, and it scared her. Hinata wasn't dumb; she knew exactly how her life would play out. The Council kept on pressing suitor after suitor (in hopes of making the _failure_ disappear from their sights), and she gave only half hearted responses, desperate to try and delay the inevitable. Three years of stolen kisses and lust filled words haunted her days and the gnawing sensation of despair tore into her heart at night. She was lonely in a way that Shino and Kiba could not heal, and she was sure that she would remain that way. Hugging her knees even more, her mind wandered to the words her father had told her so long ago. Hinata had only been three at the time, but she remembered it so clearly.

_Chubby fingers played with her mother's long brown locks, slightly envious in how she had hair as pretty as her father's. Hinata had weird hair that reminded her of the crows who pecked at the trash pile in the far end of the compound, and she hated it. Hinata wanted pretty hair, like her father, her mother, her loving uncle and Neji-nii-san, but her mother wouldn't let her dye it._

"_Hinata." Hinata looked up at her father beside her._

"_Tou-san?" Giving him a sweet smile, she held her arms out, wanting to be held. Her father quickly obliged her, holding his daughter in his arms and walking away from her mother, who had a funny look on her face. Hinata fought the urge to squirm; father didn't like it when she did, but mother didn't mind as much._

"_Hinata" repeated her father, "Remember this, my daughter. You are to be the guiding light for our clan one day, to watch over our bloodline and protect it to the best of your abilities. They will depend on you to give them wise words, and will shoulder their sins when they have wronged. You will hurt them, they will question you, but you will always guide them away from darkness."_

_Hinata didn't really get what he was getting at, but nodded none the less. Her father gave her a funny look again, before shifting her in his arms._

"_You are innocent, Hinata, I pray to the gods that you will remain so somehow. My daughter, I hope that you never fall in love, for as a father, I do not wish to see you in pain no man could heal." He said softly, eyes not focused on her, but on her mother who looked like she was ready to cry. Tugging at his sleeve, she asked what was wrong, and he merely ruffled her hair, before setting her down to run back to her mother._

"Guiding light…" Hinata whispered softly, ignoring the hair in her eyes. Relaxing her hug on her knees, she turned her body so that she rested in the corner, eyes focused on the waxing moon. Her father's words had confused her completely, so she ignored his warnings. At that age of 9, she could not bring herself to hurt her baby sister (even though she COULD) and brought shame to her family, and her cousin hated her completely. Hinata allowed him to hate her; after all, she was the reason why her uncle, his father, was dead. At the tender age of 10, she broke another rule, and fell head over heels for the lonely little boy who yelled far too much, yet she never approached him. When she turned 11, she failed completely, tossed aside by her father who always had a strange look in his eyes. Two near death experiences, one loud cry for retribution, and countless moments of pain later, Hinata continued to fight, and thus fought to impress her family once again, heir or not, because she loved them. The day her father openly praised her was one of pure happiness. When her Neji-nii-san had held her hand again was a day of joy. Each time a branch family member came to her with a question, a request, or heavy words of guilt which needed to be said was something she cherished. It didn't matter that the council didn't see her yet… Eventually one way or another, she would find her way even if her future looked bleak.

Rubbing at her eyes, she smiled. It was funny how a good cry could sort out her thoughts, though it looked rather pitiful. Exhaling, she stood shakily, hands resting on the railing.

"Temari-san, is there something I can help you with?" Hinata questioned softly, eyes not looking at the woman who now appeared on her balcony. She could smell the sweet glaze of the dango. Her stomach protested, painfully reminding her she hadn't eaten substantial for the last 39 hours. A piece of dried fruit or bread once every few hours did not equal a rumble silencing meal. Thankfully her stomach remained quiet. Wordlessly, Hinata motioned to enter her quarters, more out of habit then wanting company. She followed the older woman in and then moved past her to head into the small kitchen. Pulling out a tea pot and a pair of silver teacups, she filled the strainer with tea leaves before pressing down on the electric water heater and let hot water fall over the leaves. Recapping it, Hinata returned to the table and tried to smile.

"Is everything alr-"

"I'm sorry." Temari interrupted Hinata abruptly, who only managed to at least look dumbfounded. In the short time she worked with the proud, confident, _I-will-kick-your-ass-and-laugh-about-it-in-your-face _woman, this was the first time ever she heard anything resembling a apology. She froze in place, eyes wide, and a blush spread across Temari's face. Grumbling, Temari reached for the other woman's waist and tugged her down by her belt. The clattering of the teapot brought Hinata back to her senses and she poured the tea as Temari grumbled into her palm. After her cheeks had lost the red tint, Temari picked up the silver teacup by the handle, noting in the back of her mind the cup's odd shape and choice of material, and took a long sip of her tea. It was good, really good, but the silence left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

"It's alright… I'm sorry for reacting so badly." Hinata responded slowly, hands playing with the cup in her hand. Only to let go and clutch her head as Temari gave her a swift hit to the head, as if reprimanding a sibling.

"Apologize again and I use the fan." Temari grumbled. "You didn't have much of a choice."

"No one does if their opponent is determined enough." Hinata added, taking a sip of her tea, finding it a bit bland.

"Yeah, well, you could benefit from the sleep." Temari said, giving the younger woman an uneasy stare. Hinata jumped a little, flushing red.

"Is it… that obvious?" Trying to smile, Hinata couldn't help but squirm. Her sleep patterns were erratic at best, all caused from stress of being here. Hinata frowned as the thought of how Ino, Sakura, Neji, and Hanabi would react if they ever found out.

"Hrmp. Keep it up and you'll look like my brother." Temari grumbled, taking another sip from her teacup. Hinata smothered a snort before lifting the plastic container from the bag and pulling out one of the treats. Biting in a bit too eagerly, she chewed slowly, enjoying the feeling of the sticky, springy rice against her teeth. After a few seconds of chewing, Hinata swallowed it down, feeling her stomach cringe a tad.

"I'll be ok, it's just nerves and all." Hinata tried to placate Temari, who gave her a look of disbelief. "Really! I'll be fine, I'm just nervous about my mission, that's all!"

"Tch, right. Too bad Kankuro's out on a border run, he'd love having some man time with you friend Kiba." Temari couldn't help but roll her eyes; Both women knew that 'man time' was most likely spent with some less then reserved women. Hinata sighed, shoulders sagging, before taking a long sip of her tea. Her thoughts trailed to her other teammate Shino, and then to the Kazekage himself.

"Mmmm, it's too bad that the mission overlaps Naruto-sama's visit. Shino-kun expressed interest in meeting the Kazekage once before." Hinata mused, tilting her head in the way that just screamed adorable.

"Even though a conversation with Gaara outside of his office is as exciting as watching plants grow." Temari said snarkily.

"Shino-kun isn't just as bad, just quirky at times. Maybe they could find an sort of middle ground?" Both women glanced at each other, and then shook their heads. "Then again…"

The two of them grew quiet again, though this time it was because Hinata was enjoying her food and Temari enjoying the tea.

"What do you think of my brother?" Placing down her cup and pouring herself another cup, Temari watched the other woman.

"Which one?" Hinata questioned, moving to take her own cup.

"Kankuro's a lovable idiot, we all know, so I think I'll ask about my youngest brother then."

"I think Kankuro-san is more lively and sociable, as well as a risk taker. As for the Kazekage, he's…" Now here was a question, what did she really think about the stoic redhead? Sure, he had, uhm, nearly killed her and her friends when he was younger, but Hinata had heard of his more current deeds. She could not also discount the personal fact that he had saved Lee from a horrible death… "Admirable."

Temari raised an eyebrow, silently asking for Hinata to continue.

"The Kazekage seems to be honestly working so hard for your village, and it's easy to tell he really cares about the well-being of the civillians. It's something I admire greatly about him. He almost seems…" Hinata trailed off, face turning a brilliant red.

"Seems?" Temari verbally prodded the blushing woman, honestly curious.

"I-It's stupid really, but he seems somewhat gentle at times."

"Gentle, now that's a word I've never heard before used with him." Temari said, though she wasn't disappointed. Hinata winced, index fingers automatically poking against each other.

"W-w-well, maybe gentle isn't the right word? I don't know, he's just really patient and seems, I don't know. I'm sorry." Hinata trailed off, before receiving a sound thwap again, this time with a small handheld fan.

"Next time it's the big one."

"Uhm, his eyes. They seem… different." Hinata struggled to describe her view on the woman's brother, without pissing her off by saying something bad about him.

"Eyes are eyes, unless they've changed into a whole new shade and I didn't know about it." Temari replied, leaning back into her chair.

"Well, it's silly, his look different, like he's trying to listen to people… unlike before when he tried to kill my friends and I before." Hinata said honestly, a small smile on his face.

"That was you?" Temari blurted out, remembering the event in the Forest of death. All she had known was there were three people hiding and her then blood thirsty sibling was contemplating killing them. When Hinata nodded, Temari let out a groan. They were incredibly lucky; The three members of Hinata squad were all part of prominent families within Konohagakure, and thus their deaths would of equal major drama. "Personally, I wouldn't be getting near a person after something like that, girl."

"Erm… Kiba-kun managed to break two ribs and almost ripped off my arm when he first became my teammate. Shino-kun also once nearly smothered me to death… And they're my best friends. Then there is Neji-nii-san. Not to mention the level of sedates could of easily lead to overdosing, Temari-san."

"…point taken."

"You could almost say I have a way of attracting dangerous people." Hinata tried to joke, but immediately apologized when Temari gave her the funniest look. The blond responed by whacking her head with a larger fan she apparently had hidden on her person. Hinata couldn't help but pout at Temari, who only smiled, ruffled Hinata's hair, and continued drinking her tea before switching to another topic.

"So, how many times has that lazy idiot thrown a fit as the new adviser to the Hokage?"

"Two."

"Only?"

"Surprising isn't it, Temari-san."

"Then again, it'd probably take too much effort for him to throw a proper temper tantrum."

"That's what Shikamaru-kun said too."

* * *

A week after the Hyuuga had left her post temporarily, Gaara found himself leaning against the desk inside of the Hyuuga's study, watching as the Hokage grunt as he struggled to pull whatever he saw behind the bookcase in the woman's study. Gaara could of mentioned the barely recognizable panel on the bottom shelf, but it was more amusing watching his friend make a fool of himself. In the other room, a barely showing but still pregnant Sakura groaned as she and Temari attempted to clean the apartment before Hinata came back and had a heart attack when she found her neat haven ravaged by the human equivalent of a hurricane. Hinata should of known better, letting the Hokage (and his wife) stay in her residence unsupervised.

"GOT IT!" Naruto crowed as he pulled out bundle of black bound folders. Flopping backwards into the wooden chair, he quickly dispelled the seal and he flipped the first one open, eyes scanning the contents before tossing it aside and reading the next. Gaara waited as he flipped through well over 20 folders before noticing Naruto smirking as he contemplated a single file.

"Well at least I know that old bastard is doing his job as a dad, for once." Naruto chuckled as he closed the file.

"That was the whole point of ransacking this office then?" Gaara stated bluntly, arms crossed. When Naruto just grinned, Gaara closed his eyes and shook his head once.

"How troublesome."

"Don't tell me that Shikamaru's been rubbing off on you too." Naruto groaned loudly. "Bad enough hearing it from him. But forget that, so what do you think of Hinata so far?"

Gaara opened his eyes, staring straight at the grinning man, before shrugging once. "She is interesting enough." Naruto smirked a little; Interesting equaled compatible/likable in Gaara speak.

"I knew I picked the right person for the job. And at least I can expect things to get done now." Naruto laughed before letting it trail off. An uneasy silence passed between the two men before Naruto continued, "You'll make sure she's safe right?"

"Is there something you have forgotten to tell me about, Uzumaki?" Naruto shrugged before flipping open another folder, letting his eyebrows shoot upwards to disappear under his bangs.

"Hey Gaara..." Suddenly a door slammed open and both men turned to see a slime encrusted Hinata stand there in shock at the end of the entry way. Her eyes darted left, then right, then focused on the mess of a kitchen. Her mouth was partially open and behind her a calm man sighed softly before taking a step back.

"Oh! Hinata! You're back earlier then…Oi Hina-chan, what the hell happened to you. You look like you lost a fight with a paint wielding sludge monster." Naruto called out to Hinata from her study, catching her attention. Gaara blinked when he noticed her entire arm twitch, her hand curling upwards before relaxing. That was a reaction he had never seen the woman give before.

"And… What the hell have you been sleeping in, I mean, you smell worse then Kiba!" The aforementioned, leather clad man walked in, looking indignant, but before he could join the yell fest, the man seemed to freeze as he noticed his partner's shoulders twitch, and not in a good way. A soft noise could be heard from the woman, who fairly radiated the urge to maim. Judging from her appearance, it wasn't entirely surprising; It looked like she had managed to crawl through an entire swamp.

"H-H-Hina-chan? Are you ok?" Naruto, finally getting a clue that perhaps opening his mouth was a _BAD_idea, tried to placate the murderous woman. However his plea served better as the straw that broke the camel's back. Without raising her head, her hand shot up to snag Kiba's open collar, who began to loudly whimper. In a surprising show of strength, the much heavier man was sent flying into the air at an impressive speed. Gaara calmly side stepped and watched as Kiba slammed into Naruto. The two men somehow managed to bounce out the window and with hit the ground in the courtyard with a very solid thud. Gaara could hear Kiba groan that Naruto probably deserved that while Naruto whined about how women were insane. Gaara turned his attention back to the Hyuuga as she stormed past, still growling softly, before entering the bathroom and slammed the door hard enough to knock pictures off the wall. His lips quirked before he could steel his expression.

Even the seemingly harmless and eternally patient ambassador had a breaking point.

Interesting indeed.

* * *

The door in the entryway closed quietly as the Aburame entered the compound and slipped off his shoes. Quietly padding his way into the kitchen, he nodded once to a happy Sakura and pulled out a cup and custom made strainer, made for the cup. Easily navigating the kitchen like it was his own and avoiding the mess, he measured out the tea and poured hot water over it. Turning around, Shino leaned against the counter to look at the calm Kazekage. His eyebrows wrinkled as Gaara looked at the bug user impassively. Temari stopped her clearing out of ramen cups and gave her brother a look. By the look in his eye, something the Aburame had done made Gaara somewhat annoyed. While she couldn't read the other man, it was clear that he wasn't too happy about the Kazekage's presence either. Tension built and then broke when Shino turned once again to pull the soggy mess of tea leaves out of the cup. After throwing away the mess into a strange canister by the stove, Shino reached into the freezer to retrieve ice cubes. Dumping the cubes into his tea, he waited for the tea to cool, and once again, his eyes met Gaara's.

Thankfully this time the tension had little time to build, as Kiba slammed open the door, dragging a groaning dead weight over his shoulder. With a uncaring toss over the shoulder, he threw Naruto into the guest room and entered the kitchen area. Disappearing under the cabinets, he scrounged around before pulling out some carefully dried beef jerky strips and headed into the living room, plopping himself down lazily as Akamaru followed him. Shino took the chance to sit down beside his teammate, tea in hand, and motioned for the rest to sit down. Temari and Sakura exchanged an unreadable look before joining the two other men at the table. Gaara watched from his place against the wall, comfortable where he was.

"Gaara-sama, aren't you going to join us?" Sakura said, getting up to briefly disappear into the kitchen and Hinata's private quarters. Gaara let his eyes sweep across the occupants before taking his sister's hidden glare and sat down beside her, leaving a wide space between himself and the jerky chewing man and his dog. Accepting the bottled water Sakura came back with, Gaara settled back and let the rest of the people around him do the talking.

* * *

When the hot water hit her, Hinata felt her anxiety and stress melt away in a hot, watery haze. She tried not to focus on the thick, sloppy mess slowly rolling off her skin and more on scrubbing herself until her skin turned red (and not think about how slime got in places she didn't think possible). It took her about 20 minutes or so to realize that in her quest for nirvana, she had forgotten a new set of clothes. To make it worse, her robe was missing from the hook. She couldn't just walk out in a towel either… She was considering slipping on the filth covered clothes again when there was a soft knock on the door and it creaked over.

"Hinata-chan, I figured you'd need a change of clothes, so I'll just leave it here ok?" Hinata sighed in relief at the sound of Sakura's voice. The door closed again and Hinata turned off the water off, grabbing the towel off the rack. She patted the soft cloth along her body before rubbing her hair with the towel and typing it into a sloppy bun. Walking over to the pile of clothes, she quickly slipped the undergarments on. Reaching for the shirt, she shook it open, only to realize that shirt was not a shirt, but a dress. A simple blue sundress that she was sure that she had stashed away. It wasn't revealing or extremely low cut, but it did nothing to distract the eyes either… and maybe a little too short. Biting her lip, she activated her blood limit, only to find everyone gathered in the living room, minus Naruto who was nursing his head in her guestroom floor. She would have to raise her voice and there was no hope on trying to gain Sakura's attention only. Slipping the sundress on, she grimaced as the fabric hit the top of her knees and opened the door. Hopefully she could sneak past them into her room and…

"Oh, you're done Hinata-chan?" Sakura practically purred. Heads shot up as Hinata froze in mid step, face flushing red. Straightening up immediately, she began to twiddle her fingers.

"Uhm… ah… not… yet. I-I-I." Suddenly Sakura grabbed one of her hands and dragged her into the living room. Turning her around slightly, Sakura placed both hands on Hinata's shoulders and shoved her down in-between Kiba and Gaara. Hinata turned slightly towards Gaara, bowing as low as she dared from her sitting position.

"Good evening Kazekage-sama." She murmured. Gaara stared at her all the while, and then sighed.

"Welcome back, Hyuuga-san." Hinata gave a small smile to Gaara, who turned back to his drink. Temari raised an eyebrow; She could of sworn there was a little smile on his face. The idea was quickly shot down as Gaara gave her a small glare. Almost skipping to her abandoned spot by Temari, Sakura gave Hinata a lazy grin, in which all she got was a soft sigh from the girl and an amused chuckle from Temari.

"So, as you were saying Kiba-kun?" Sakura asked Kiba as he tried to ignore the sour look Shino shot at him as he opened his mouth.

"We finished the mission, easy, and since we had time to kill, Shino and I figured a little spar wouldn't hurt." Kiba began, leaning against the table. "So when I tried to plow into Shino, he dodged and Hinata was just coming back from whatever she was doing, and… Yeah. You should of just taken it like a man Shino!"

"Why? In battle it doesn't seem logical to take a blow which could at least harm me." Shino argued, before taking a sip of the cooled tea. Kiba growled before slamming his hand against the table.

"Yeah, but if you didn't then Hinata wouldn't of wound up in that… mess." Kiba countered, Akamaru barking loudly as in agreement.

"What happened anyways?" Temari interrupted the two, nibbling on the corner of her cracker.

"Nothing really that bad." Kiba muttered, looking somewhat guilty while Shino grumped.

"I disagree. Sending a teammate sailing off a cliffside, into a polluted river, and then having her swallowed by a man-eating plant would be considered far more then _minor_."

"Well if you were so worried, you shouldn't of have dodged!"

"Again, why?"

Hinata sighed softly, watching her friends argue over who was to blame for her unfortunate accident, and sat up on her knees, hands covering one of theirs.

"Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, please stop it, it was my fault for not dodging in time." Smiling sweetly, she tightened her grip on their hands, before getting up and settling back down. Both men just rolled their eyes and accepted it (knowing better then to argue), settling back into pace as Akamaru wagged his tail. "Kiba-kun, I didn't hurt you when I…"

Kiba just smirked. "Nothing too bad, since I got the better end of the deal. Been a while since you've lost it, eh? Hmmm, Shino, when was the last time?" The look on the Inuzuka's face suggested that he knew very well when that was and his grin was one of pure evil."

"…" Shino grunted while Hinata froze immediately, face a brilliant red.

"Ah that's right, it was when you were trying out those 'special' Kikaichu of yours our while training a few years back…"

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata bolted up, ready to bodily silence Kiba while Shino's forehead wrinkled.

"Ah! That's right! Training!" All heads turned to a now recovered Naruto who grinned and pointed towards the Team 8 members. Hinata squirmed a little in place as the boisterous blond waltzed into the room, bump and all, and sat behind Sakura, pulling her into his lap. "Tomorrow I need you to help me and have a match against me."

"Ano, Nar-Naruto-sama, why?" Hinata's voice grew soft as she stared at the wall behind the loving couple, her fingers digging into her hand. Three sets of eyes watched the nails dug into the fragile skin, but none voiced the command to stop.

"Eh, I thought it'd be obvious." Naruto, the ever oblivious, whined. Sakura frowned and elbowed him in the gut before nursing hear aching ear. "Cause of all the stupid paperwork, I haven't had a lot of time to let loose, so I figured I could take a break."

"…Ehm… Naruto-sama, it..." Her protest was cut short as a leather covered arm turned her around, with force, and silenced her by pressing her face into his chest. With a little umph, she was silenced, her lips pressed against leather.

"Not a bad idea, I've always been itchin' for payback." Kiba grinned, ignoring the squirming, muffled female in his arms. He tried not to wince as she jammed her fist into his kidney and gave her some wriggle room. She sighed, signaling her defeat and he grinned a bit, using his free hand to stroke her arm, and laughed when Naruto crowed in delight. Hinata murmured against the leather and blinked sleepily. The stress and lack of sleep she's been experiencing since she came here was quickly overtaking her in the security of her teammate's arms. It did not help that the rhythmic, comforting heartbeat right beside her ear urged her to relax completely.

"Right, now we got to find a place." His blue eyes focused on Gaara, who (stopped watching the display of affection from the corner of his eye) crossed his arms and gave Naruto a look.

"Oh come on Gaara, there's gotta be a place where we can let loose." Naruto pleaded. Gaara closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to stave off the headache forming.

"It's not like we're gonna try and destroy the town anyways." Gaara gave no answer, unsure if he could put into words what he was feeling. While he was sure that the Hyuuga wouldn't willingly cause much damage, the three other men in question were strong in their own rights and destructive. Very destructive. Perhaps if they forwarded the fines to Konohagakure…

"Please?" Minutes ticked by slowly before Gaara finally responded.

"Hn." By the grin on Naruto's face, Gaara felt it safe to assume the blond took his meaningless grunt as an affirmative one. Gaara would of vocalized his frustration and dread of the headache to come, maybe even punched a hole in a nearby surface if he wasn't respectful of other people's property.

"Yosh! Uh, Kiba…" Naruto pointed to the figure nestled in his arms, which had nodded off to sleep. Kiba carefully shifted his arms, letting the obviously exhausted woman rest a little more comfortably, her head still resting against his shoulder and moved his arm to tuck under her knees. Standing slowly, he shifted once more and nodded his head at the group before carrying Hinata into her bedroom. The room quieted down, but when Kiba and Akamaru didn't return, Shino took this as a sign to take over.

"It has apparently grown late. Perhaps we should all retire?" There were half hearted agreements, but as Gaara trailed behind his sibling in order to leave the apartment, he couldn't help but glance into the bedroom Kiba had entered. It seemed that Shino had joined them, and both men were speaking softly, frowns on their faces. Hinata was sleeping between the two seated figures, her hair pulled out of it's bun and spilling over Kiba's lap.

"What the hell is Naruto thinking, sending her here, alone?" Kiba hissed under his breath. Shino said nothing, turning his head to glare at the Kazekage, his body shifting as if ready to intercept an attack.

A frown appeared on Gaara's face for a moment and a burning sensation appeared in the pit of his stomach. Envy? Yes, it could only be envy. After all, having a relationship that deep and that entwined dangled in front of his face was almost as painful as pouring water into the sand in front of a man dying of thirst. They trusted each other, with their lives, their souls, their existence, and it was something Gaara didn't hold his breath for. Walking out of the room, he quickly forgot about the swirl envy in his stomach; Instead he focused on the content smile on Hinata's face. To sleep so peacefully, she was truly blessed.

Lost in thought, he missed the inquisitive glance of his sister over her shoulder.

* * *

**AN: **Review please? It's the only way I'll get any good at this.


	4. To Talk

**Author's Note:** (this is a doozy, I actually recommend SKIPPING the Note) Sorry for the late chapter, well later then usual, but this chapter gave me a bigger headache then intended. After a rather… depressing… realization with the last chapter, I found myself both unsure of how I wanted to take this story, and if I even WANTED to take this further (for reasons of job and the stress of writing something like this). As an artist and a full time IT tech, I'm used to criticism, I encourage it, but I suppose I've never been too confident with multi-chapter writing, so this one event made me cringe. So yeah. I've rewritten this chapter three times, took things from other chapters to rush things, and other things with the pace aren't rubbing my fur too well, metaphorically. The ending to this chapter makes me cringe as well, so I am warning you, it's rather ill-ended for my tastes, and I've done NOTHING to remove the fact that I haven't done much original with the story. That's for the next chapter, if I ever finish writing it. If I do. *sigh* I need to think about this some more. (start reading after this)

Apologies for any mistakes in spelling or tense. I have no beta and Microsoft word is notorious for changing things behind my back. (FRICKIASHAYING MICROSOFT!!!!!!!)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any copyrighted characters or ideas.

* * *

**Over time**

Chapter 4: To talk

* * *

"You're interested in her, aren't you." Gaara blinked as his concentration, on trying to figure out how to effectively deny his best's friend inane request to use HIS village as a playground, was broken by Temari, who stood to his side, one hand resting on her hip.

"Her?" Gaara wasn't sure where this was going, but he was sure that he didn't like it either. Mentally, he sorted out all the women she could be referring to, and quickly realized she could only mean one person. "She is interesting, but not in the way you are thinking." Gaara responded blandly, though somewhere in the back of his mind, a part of him could not deny that there was, perhaps, a little truth to his sister's accusation.

"She'd be a pretty good match though." Temari said off handedly. It was plain to see that Temari liked the timid young woman. From what Temari could tell, both Hinata and Gaara were similar when it came to their temperaments (post-insane-demon-removal), and perhaps their reasoning. While opposites did attract, Temari was sure that all the passion from the tension in such a relationship was not something her socially inept brother could handle. Gaara rolled his eyes before returning to the scroll. Displeased with the lack of response, Temari let her other hand come to rest on her hip, glaring down at her brother.

"Just think about it for once. It wouldn't kill you to try and prove our brother wrong." Both of them twitched at that; The two siblings remembered the day Kankuro announced he was pretty sure that Gaara was gay. It didn't help that the day before he had loudly protested when Gaara had destroyed Kankuro's private stash of heterosexual… stimulation.

A soft knock interrupted the two, and he called for the Hyuuga to come in. She was the only one to knock like the door would complain if she hit it too hard. A soft smile was on her face, as she came in with several scrolls for him to look over. Opening the door wider then usual, she stepped aside to reveal a trailing Aburame holding more packages. When the hooded man didn't put them down, Gaara felt his shoulders relax in relief. At least the Hyuuga wasn't trying to drive him completely crazy with extra paperwork. Her eyes focused on the scroll just to the left of the center, before turning to look at Temari.

"Hinata-chan, aren't you supposed to be getting ready?" Temari asked, noting the kimono she was wearing. The girl blushed a little and opened her mouth to speak when she stopped and stopped looking at them completely.

"Uhm… Do you mind if I close the balcony doors for a minute?" Temari nodded dumbly, wondering why she had suddenly requested something so odd. Hinata quickly darted to the glass doors and slid it shut, pressing her palms against it and closing her eyes. Shino grumbled when there was a loud thud and a curse from outside the glass doors. Opening up the door quickly, Hinata peered out at Kiba.

"Kiba-kun…" Her annoyed tone betrayed the worried look, which was echoed clearly on her other teammate's face.

"Do you dislike stairs or are you that impatient? Diving head first into a room without thinking ahead is certainly one way to get yourself killed." Shino grumbled, not moving from his spot. The vein on Kiba's forehead strained as he snarled at his teammate. Hinata laughed nervously when she realized that Kiba did not stay on the floor. In fact, he had shoved a package of some sort into her arms, thrown her over his shoulder, like a sack of rice, and turned to jump out the balcony.

"Yosh, time to kick some Narutard ass. Hinata, You can change on the way." As in midair. Over people who could look up at any time. Ah right, Kiba was somewhat of an exhibitionist. Hinata, however, was definitely not.

"K-K-K-Kiba! That's indecent!" She squirmed and landed ungracefully on her rear, lumpy package still cradled in her arms.

"Eh, never bothered you when I change outside."

"That's because even the most horrifying of sights can become accustomed too after the hundredth time."

"Che, I just don't see what's the big deal, it's just…" Thankfully Temari grabbed the flabbergasted young woman and dragged her down the hall. The three men quieted down, uneasy in each other's presence, and waited for the two women to return. Minutes ticked by as Kiba and Shino muttered to each other and Gaara returned to his work, seemingly unperturbed that two foreign nin were waiting in his office. Gingerly, he picked up the scroll Hinata pointedly looked at and broke the seal. His frustrated look slowly transformed from annoyed, to surprised, and finally to smug. He held back the urge to flat out grin as he reread the scroll, and silently praised the surprisingly sly ambassador. Gaara moved to get out of his chair when, with a bang, his door slammed open and his brother waltzed in. Kankuro ignored the annoyed look that was written on his brother's face and walked straight towards Kiba.

"Yo, Dog rapist!"

"Long time no see, You sand sucker!" Kankuro and Kiba grinned and clasped hands, trying to make the other one cow down to the other's grip. When neither seemed to back down, they just smirked and let their hands drop.

"So when did you get here?" Kankuro asked, getting settled on the couch.

"Eh, few days, but I gotta get going after we kick some Narutard ass." Kiba grinned, leaning against the door.

"Any chance I could sneak a peak at that wreck-in-progress?" Kankuro smirked, leaning forward a bit. Shino glared at Kiba and Gaara gave his older brother a questioning glance.

"Sure, why not?" Kiba instantly responded, when the door opened again, hitting Kiba in the back. Temari glared at Kiba and moved aside to let Hinata in. The woman sighed as she adjusted a strap of her stiff chest guard under the short white cloak around her shoulders, white streamers streaked with black hanging from twin triangular points on her back. The white molded chest armor was a definite change from her form-hiding clothes, sturdy cloth pinning the pale blue weave to her sides. Finding that perfect balance, Hinata lowered her hands out, letting the front flaps settle over her chest and the long sleeves slide over her hands. The streamers fluttered at the slightest movement, appearing to curl around her when she remained still.

"Sorry to make you wait, but maybe we should leave before Naruto-sama gets too impatient?" Hinata smiled, hands folding behind her back. Shino gave a nod before turning to walk out the door, Hinata turning to follow. Kiba moved towards the balcony when Shino's hand shot out to snag the impatient man's collar. A giggle could be heard before the noise faded away, leaving the three siblings in silence. A look passed between them and they walked out to follow the threesome.

* * *

The marketplace was nosier then ever, with the whispers and giggling of girls. Hinata sighed, already uncomfortable with all the attention on their little group, when Kankuro broke the silence between them.

"Hey, Hina-chan, what's with the streamers?" Kankuro asked pointedly, catching the cloth as it fluttered in the air. Pausing, she turned to watch Kankuro play with the cloth before gently pulling it out of his loose grasp.

"It's a gift from Kurenai-sensei. It's kind of like a good luck charm that we each have." She played with the cloth, carefully brushing off the ends. Kiba grunted before pointing to the slightly worn cloth wrapped around his kunai pouch and Shino lifted his sleeve to reveal a pristine band wrapped around his wrist. Each piece sported the same black pussy willow like pattern. "It's nothing really, just a little memento."

"Memento?" Gaara questioned. Hinata stopped long enough for the sand siblings to catch up, before blushing a little.

"Of our promise." Hinata murmured, smiling softly, before speeding up to catch up with her teammates. Touching Kiba's sleeve, she smiled as the affectionate man wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Shino held her hand in his own. Temari slowed her pace to match her youngest sibling while Kankuro continued his steady pace. She waited for her youngest brother to say something, but Gaara remained quiet.

* * *

Arriving inside the abandoned training ground, the group paused, the Kohana trio wandering in further. When Naruto refused to appear, they appeared to relax, Hinata especially as she played with the bell absentmindedly. Akamaru began to pant in thirst and looked around, whining before fixating on the Hyuuga. Akamaru trotted up to Hinata and begun to rub his head against her hip, his wet nose poking at the canister on her hip.

"Thirsty Akamaru-kun?" Unclipping the metal container, Hinata kneeled down, prying the stopper off the top before cupping one hand and slowly pouring the water into her palm. Lapping up the water greedily, Akamaru wagged his tail. The relaxed mood, however snapped almost audibly when the whistling of metal slicing through the air. The canister was tossed to the side, water spraying everywhere from the open mouth, but what did hit Hinata did not soak into her clothes or pool on her skin. It danced over her body and revealed the blue glow of her chakra which danced over her body. Hinata focused, the water gathering around her open hand. A fling of her wrist and the thin, sharp projectiles streaked through the air, water slowly falling away from the chakra. A series of clangs could be heard when Hinata quickly tucked her knees under her body and launched herself skyward. Her hand glowing, she arced in the air and landed harshly, one hand centimeters from Naruto's neck as Shino and Kiba restrained Naruto's arms and legs. As if to add insult to injury, Akamaru snickered as he sat down on the man's stomach while Sakura stepped out of her hiding place and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Eh, you really must be out of shape to lose this fast, Naruto." Kiba drawled, a lazy grin on his face. Hinata let the blue glow fade away into nothing before standing up, careful not to step on anyone. Naruto scowled as he shook the others off him, crossing his arms.

"We haven't even started warming up. You'll never know what hit you, you cocky bastard." Naruto challenged as Hinata began to walk towards the entrance.

"And where do you think YOU'RE going, Hinata? We're gonna tear this place up!" Naruto grinned, shifting a little, getting ready to do something possibly destructive.

"As long as you have cleared it with the council that is." Gaara stated, catching the men off guard. Naruto's blank look amused Gaara a bit while Kiba and Shino looked at Hinata accusingly, who just looked away.

"Whadda mean cleared? It's just some harmless fun after all!" Naruto growled, not liking where this was going.

"Ano… Any high ranking shinobi and foreign dignitary who wishes to use their abilities within an allied village not of their origin must register the fight's date and participants with the allied ruling council and the current leader of that village. Additionally, no pardons may be given if the said ninja has a record of uncontrolled and/or lasting damage created due to the battle, and will be personally liable for any fees for restoration of the surrounding. Right?" Hinata prattled off, turning slightly towards Gaara, who nodded. Kiba didn't let up on his accusing stare when Naruto… more or less, exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?!?" Reaching a pitch no man who reached sexual activity should technically reach, Naruto vocalized his dismay before latching onto Hinata, shaking her wildly. "Hinata! Please please please tell me there's some kind of loophole or weakness or anything to get around this!!!"

"Shaking the living daylight out of her isn't going to make it any different, you idiot!" Sakura roared, hand coming down to give her husband a 'love tap' which immediately sent him crashing to the ground and Hinata stumbling backwards. Hands caught her loosely under her armpits as she shook her head trying to make the world stop spinning.

"Can you stand?" The voice behind her was non-threatening, but just who it was made her spine go stiff. Flushing bright red, she didn't dare turn to face Gaara; Through her jacket, she could feel that his hands were warm.

"Y-yes. Thank you." She managed to stutter out and shifted her weight to regain her balance when a bump to her knees made her fall backwards again, only this time a warm, furry body was under her legs.

With a huff, Akamaru rose from a crouch and Hinata clung to his white fur as Gaara suddenly let go. Hinata's legs oddly folded under each other as she found herself riding sidesaddle on the hound. Akamaru turned his head to stare at the redhead and growled for all he was worth, as if he was trying to tell the very scary man that the kind, pretty, loves-and-affections, tummy rub giving girl-woman is MINE; No touchy or Akamaru would bite him somewhere where it would hurt. To add a final warning, as the huge dog turned, his tail gave Gaara a solid thwack on the thigh before trotting off with his tomato red prize.

* * *

Unsure of what exactly he had done wrong, Gaara felt his eye twitch. He had a headache, no, a migraine. Crossing his arms, he pointedly ignored the tiny part of him who noted he had actually missed the brief touches between himself and the Hyuuga while she was gone.

"Did the _dog _just reprimand _Gaara _for touching Hinata?" Temari asked her other brother, a look of shock on her face.

"Ask me after the meteor crash lands and a giant pink dinosaur starts to sing love ballads through the town." Kankuro answered, his brain refusing to work properly.

"I've seen worse." Sakura said offhandedly as she joined the conversation. Three pairs of eyes gave her a look of disbelief and to that she merely lifted three fingers. "Siblings. Ino. Mini-skirt."

Temari hummed, placing a hand on her hip and then gave a rather catty grin before asking, "Any tidbits you're willing to share?"

"What kind of friend would I be if I gave you people ammo? Besides, Hinata destroyed the negatives and I'm not about to risk her seeing the only photo I've got left."

"Darn. Must be something juicy."

Sakura only answered with a evil chuckle.

* * *

Hinata sighed loudly as Naruto rattled off possible loopholes to her. Half of his suggestions would have been fertile grounds for a full out war, most of his suggestions bore Naruto's own brand of copyrighted insanity, and one even made Kiba turn a scarlet shade. All of them were shot down with reason and logic, and this made Naruto very frustrated and he vocally expressed this.

"That's just SICK!!!!" Kiba wheezed out while Shino looked like he was about to pass out.

"Well I don't see you having any bright ideas!" Naruto shot back.

"Naruto-sama, I'm sorry but there's no way you can get around this . Perhaps if you waited until you return, Shikamaru-kun will arrange for some sort of sparring match…" Hinata tried to placate him with a smile. It didn't work and he sulked off, heading towards his wife and friend. Shoulders sagging, she sighed once again before turning her attentions to her grumpy friends.

"How old?" Shino stated bluntly, moving in closer. Flushing red, Hinata toyed with the idea of pleading the 5th, but decided against it.

"I'm not sure exactly, but the book looked to be well past 3 decades old." Hinata admitted, suddenly finding the floor interesting. Their glares rolled off her skin and she tried to look innocent and completely harmless. It didn't quite work and she squeaked when Kiba made a grab for her.

"Stop looking so pathetic Naruto, really." Sakura grumbled as she let her husband hang off her shoulders, mumbling into her shoulder and whining about how it was unfair. Shrugging her shoulder again, Sakura gave her husband a glare before giving in, silently promising herself to make him pay her back in spades for the trouble he put her through. Feeling him nuzzle the crook of her neck and then place a kiss there, Sakura couldn't help but smile. Damn manipulative bastard. Leaning back against him slightly, Sakura relaxed. Temari and Kankuro wordlessly moved away, heading towards the trio, leaving the couple with a blank Gaara.

"Nee, Gaara, if you want to talk to her, just do it." Naruto drawled, pulling Sakura closer as he stopped slumping. Giving her a quick kiss, Naruto gently shoved Sakura towards the now laughing group before throwing an arm over Gaara's shoulders, leaning against him.

"If you're thinking that I am withholding any concerns about our alliance…"

"Gaara," Naruto interrupted, eyes focused on the happy faces in front of them, "There are some things we can't talk about with our family, no matter how much we care them. It'll be good to let it all out. She'll be good to talk to; I trust her completely. Besides, you need more friends, damn it." Gaara didn't reply, mulling over his friend's words when Naruto began to push him towards the group as well. As they approached, Hinata turned red as Kankuro began to laugh and was the first to notice the last two members join them. Bowing slightly, she offered the two men a sweet smile before flushing red as Kiba made a lewd comment. Moving in-between his siblings, Gaara watched as the others chatted amicably, emotions clear on their faces. It took him a minute or so (more like twelve), but slowly, surely, he unfolded his arms, and surprised the rest of them by adding in his opinion.

* * *

Three days after Naruto and his gang had left, Gaara found himself rather antsy. All his paperwork had been completed and his siblings were off on personal leave for the day. Glancing at the clock, he scowled slightly when he realized it was only 5 in the afternoon, which meant unless someone blew up a building, there'd be no more reports. Passing through the halls, he watched as people interacted witch each other. Some yelled, others joked, and a few resorted the physical violence. A flicker of chakra peppered with irritation caught his attention. Opening the door to the Hyuuga's temporary office, Gaara found himself presented with an organized mess. A pile of open scrolls sat on one of the many tables and beside it was a black ink stone partially filled with black ink. His eyes settled on a surprising sight, a restless Hyuuga. Completely unaware of her audience, Hinata bit the tip of her thumb, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger, glaring at a scroll as if it was issuing death threats.

"Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to be a only child." Hinata grumbled to herself, ruffling her bangs with a frustrated sigh. Gaara frowned, recalling his own older sister muttering the same thing to herself on occasion.

"Why?" Gaara almost didn't believe he had actual said that out loud, but her reaction was worth it. With a surprised yelp, Hinata tripped over her own feet, letting go of the scroll. It flew into the air, unraveling, before crashing down on her head. Wincing, she shook her head and automatically glared at Shino… wait… The person in front of her was NOT her teammate, regardless of how perfectly he imitated Shino's ability to catch her at her most unguarded moments. Blood rushed to her face as Hinata leapt to her feet quickly and bowed in greeting, ignoring the silk paper wrapped around her body. She was so embarrassed that she almost missed the quirk of a lip… almost.

"I-Is there something you needed, Kazekage-sama?" Hinata automatically asked, trying to will her blush to fade away quickly.

"Your answer." Naruto did encourage him to talk to her after all. He watched as Hinata blinked in surprise, tilted her head and bit her lip, as if confused with what he was referring to, before figuring it out.

"It's… just a expression." Hinata said after a moment of hesitation, bending down to untangle the scroll from her body.

"It sounded more like a statement then an expression."

"Perhaps, but admitingly, I'd never really want to know what it's like." Hinata sighed as she finished rolling the scroll.

"Then why bother to say such a thing in the first place?" Gaara pressed, moving further into the room.

"Because…" Trailling off, she warily glanced at the intimidating redhead, unsure of how to answer such a personal question. Banishing the thought of imitating her cousin with a completely open-ended response, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Even though I love my sister, there are times when even my love for her can't stop me from thinking she's an idiot."

"Hm, I see." Gaara said, leaning against her desk, somewhat relieved that she had chosen a topic he could relate to. "…Temari says the same thing sometimes."

"I could easily see her doing that." Hinata murmured, playing with the scroll in her hands. She could feel his accusing glare on her skin, and she quickly continued. "It just means that she really does care about you two!"

"…hn."

"I mean, well… She spends a lot of time watching over you and your brother, it's a little hard to miss." Hinata admitted, storing the scroll away and moving to the pile on her desk.

"It's part of her job to…"

"That's not it." Hianta interrupted. Turning her head, she just smiled as he gave her a look of disbelief . "Hanabi uses that same excuse."

"Your counter-argument?"

"…It's… vague." Hinata finished lamely, and cringed a little when the Kazekage kept staring at her, the look in his eyes telling her to finish. Squirming a bit, she gave in. She thought about her sister and emotions flowed into her and she felt her hand come up to rest against her chest, heart beating slowly underneath it. "She's my baby sister before the heir, my treasured one before my charge. That is first thing that comes to mind when I see her."

Gaara watched as her discomfort with his blunt questioning melt away into something… He didn't have a word for it. The emotion on her face felt familiar, but it was also elusive. Letting his eyes linger on where her hand pressed gently on her chest, he reluctantly refocused on her face and the warm smile. Taking in the sight of her almost seeming to radiate love made him twitch and feel acutely uncomfortable on one side of his chest. It wasn't like he was annoyed, but how she looked made him confused. Gaara never did like feeling like he had no control over something. Pushing the feeling aside, he focused on part of her answer.

"You are not the heir." Blunt and to the point, he watched as she froze, that warm glow instantly disappearing back to where ever it had spawned from. He heard her inhale and exhale before staring at the floor.

"I willingly stepped down."

"Why?" Her eyes stopped focusing on the floor and looked up at him, eyes calm.

"…Do I need a state a reason?" When Gaara didn't answer, Hinata let her gaze shift to her desk. She looked up again when, for some reason, He had decided to lean against her desk.

"I suppose not." Hinata jumped when his elbow dragged against her arm as he crossed his arms across his chest. Minutes ticked by as she tidied up her desk, at a loss of what the do with the man in her office, who was watching her as intently as one of Neji's hawks. It made her uncomfortable, to say the least. In her mind she was rattling off options, ranging from shoving him out the door with a half-formed excuse to leaping out the window herself. She settled on something a tad more reasonable.

"Would you like some tea, Kazekage-sama?" She motioned to the corner of the room where two chairs and a table sat. A grunt and a nod was her answer as he quietly moved to sit down on the wooden chair, this time the back of his hand brushing against her own. Taking the tea set off one of her bookcase shelves, Hinata closed her eyes and calmed her nerves. His accidental brushes were starting to unnerve her, seeing as it could have been mistaken as a sign of affection. But, she argued with herself, this also was the KAZEKAGE, a man who seemed like the type to favor business over personal issues. Sighing, she shook her head slightly; No, this was most likely her romance-starved mind's desperate attempt to read in-between the lines when there was nothing there. Picking up a thermos from behind her desk, she quickly joined him.

"Was there something you needed to ask me about, Kazekage-sama?" Hinata repeated as she carefully measured out the tea leaves. Pouring the hot water over the leaves, she let herself relax, her body talking over the motions. Closing the lid, she sat down herself, waiting for the leaves to seep into the water more before serving, and turned her head towards him. He wasn't looking at her (thankfully), but out the window, before letting his posture relax a little.

"I'm not sure. This was mostly Naruto's idea."

"I don't think there has been a person to say no to Naruto, yet." Hinata said over the rim of her cup. "You don't need to stay if you don't want to."

"It's not particularly unpleasant." Gaara quickly answered, catching her gaze. She rewarded him with a sweet smile, before breaking the gaze to focus back on her tea. Hinata could wait until he felt more comfortable, she was good at that.

"I'm glad, Gaara-sama." She panicked when she realized her slip, and tried to apologize. "P-please excuse the slip of my tongue Kazekage-sama!"

Gaara didn't say anything but just nodded, which made her sigh in relief. It didn't really bother him she had addressed him in a more familiar tone, in fact, it put him at ease a tad. Perhaps he was making a new friend. He'd figure it out later, but for now, he enjoyed her presence and the tea.

* * *

**AN**: Review?


	5. Affection

**Author's Note: **Ok, this chapter is a little shorter then what I had planned, but leaving people at a cliffhanger pleases my evil side. Technically, this is only half of the chapter I was planning to do for this chapter, but I'm evil. At least you get a compromise here? (that being you get something instead of nothing?) Also, in a much better mood now, after reading an interesting article on originality in stories, or the lack there of and how it shouldn't be the focus point of an author. Not much to say here, other then review.

…oh. Here's something. Both Hinata and Gaara are going to seem OOC, but really, a certain MANGA ARTIST doesn't give them enough screen time to give us a good character-sheet, so maybe it's not OOC. Could I claim this is artistic license? …Maybe not.

Edit: For some reason it deleted a few sentences... whut?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any copyrighted characters or ideas. Still no beta, so please bear with the many grammar and spelling mistakes.

* * *

**Over time**

Chapter 5: Affection

* * *

"Don't you dare ignore me!" Hanabi bellowed, fist pounding on the wooden door. "I want you to bring my sister back NOW! It's been THREE MONTHS! She should of been back two months ago! No… **TWO MONTHS** AND **3 WEEKS AGO**!!!! _**DO YOU HEAR ME YOU PINHEAD?!?!?**_"

"I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm not here..." Naruto whispered to himself as he dove into his paperwork.

"You know she'll just come back tomorrow." Neji's tone suggested mirth, which made Naruto scowl a little.

"Then stop escorting her here, you ass. She's YOUR cousin, you do something about her!" Naruto hissed in return, flipping through papers like a madman and pointedly ignoring the angry demands being spat out from beyond the door.

"It's not my place to make demands of the Hyuuga heir." noted Neji, a smirk lifting the corner of his mouth. From his resting place on the windowsill, Shikamaru cracked open an eye.

"So basically, you reap what you sow." The genius grumbled, before catching the scroll being flung at his head with one hand. Yawning, Shikamaru straightened up, giving Naruto a bored stare.

"Hinata's perfect for the role, so why wouldn't I send her?!?" Naruto argued, before hunching over his desk and scribbling a mile a minute. "And how was I supposed to know her sister was even more possessive-protective then you Neji? And you're like a rabid, half starved, hell-spawned wolverine when it comes to Hinata." Added Naruto under his breath.

"Care to repeat that? I didn't quite hear you." Neji said, eyes transmitting the threat of a major ass kicking, Hokage or not. Naruto shot Neji a impish grin when the door shook again

"You impotent pig! Open this door already!" With a frustrated cry, Naruto dug into the pile of papers on his desk and shot out of his chair. Yanking the door quickly, he caught the young woman off guard, mid roar, and shoved a paper in her face.

"!" Slamming the door again, Naruto dusted off his hands and flopped back into his chair. The three men sighed in relief as Hanabi stormed away to do whatever, the well-bred shinobi in her finally rearing its head to complete the task given to her.

"Hard to believe she's related to Hinata-chan, you know." grumbled the irritated Hokage.

"Do you even know what kind of mission you sent Hanabi-san on?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

"Some babysitting mission at a Academy. I think." Naruto snickered as Neji bolted out the door to follow the younger of his two cousins and prevent the harming of innocents.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru groaned and leaned against the pillow on her perch, looking back out at the sky. "You should really take Hinata's advice and organize your damn desk."

"Just cause it doesn't work for you two doesn't mean it can't. Advisors or not, you two aren't always right, ya know!" Naruto shot back. Rolling his eyes, Shikamaru briefly wondered when his partner in this hell of a job would come back before watching the clouds roll by.

"I've sent Ino and Tenten to check up on her."

"Ah."

* * *

People parted as Gaara strode down the halls, the annoyed look on his face putting them in a state of alarm. Truth be told, he wasn't angry, just frustrated. 5 weeks and one rather embarrassing dream after Naruto's visit was all it took for him to realize that his sister had been dead-on with her observations. Hinata was not merely a friend, but someone he was starting to view as a potential life-partner, if not the ONLY one he was willing to even consider. Knowing this, however, did not make his life any easier.

Women came to him, lusting after his power, his looks, and thus he had very little experience with the feelings of one sided want and attraction he seemed to suffer from now. At first, he thought his enjoyment of their small conversations in-between their politically driven debates was a misplaced need for companionship. His few attempts to associate with other women, however, made him regret it almost instantly. The women who approached him was strong, attractive, and absolutely enthralled with him; Yet Gaara could only think of the gentle, _**oblivious**_ Hinata, who had encouraged him, in her own infuriating way, to try and peruse the woman he found interesting, as long as it wasn't HER. He didn't know was what more bothersome, how she would skirt between the boundaries of friend and love interest, or how she seemed to fear his affections and yet not him as a person.

His frustration with being unable to figure out how to approach the woman he wanted plagued him constantly. Years ago, the stress would of set him off into a killing rampage, but thankfully (he supposed), Hinata was also a calming presence. So the frustration and attraction was just left to simmer, and it did not help that he was fanning the flame by spending time with the damned woman.

He wanted her, plain and simple.

Cutting it off with the women earned him a small frown from the Hyuuga, making him irritated somewhat that she obviously did not react correctly. His admirers always gave him a hopeful smile when he ended a relationship; Hinata gave him a look of disappointment before her eyes turned towards the door where the most recent victim had run out of.

What made it worse was that he was constantly reminded that he was the only one who had their eye on the pale eyed woman. Men would touch her hands, kiss her cheek, try to pull her close and seduce her with honeyed words. Thankfully, Hinata was not the type to be easily wooed, by any means (even if it also meant his chances were abysmal), and she would slip away or he would 'appear' at the right time. Part of him was secretly thrilled when she would turn them down and try to erase their touch from her skin; She never did so when their skin brushed.

Asking his brother for help was pointless, and his sister's suggestions seemed… implausible. With a groan, he opened the door to her room without warning, knowing full well that she had no visitors. Even if she did, most men would run out of the room at the sight of him anyways.

* * *

"Gaara-sama, I didn't expect to see you today." Hinata said from her desk, peaking up from her work and giving him a bright smile. Finishing whatever she was doing, Hinata placed her brush aside and got out of her chair, giving him her customary bow. He gave her a nod before holding a small bundle of letters and scrolls.

"These arrived addressed to you earlier this week. While none seemed urgent, I'm sure you would like to read them." Gaara calmly said, eyes focused on her and her slight pout.

"Y-You don't need to keep hand delivering these, I'm sure you're just as busy." Hinata said, moving closer to him as her cheeks turned pink. While that was true, it was an excuse to spend time with the woman.

"These past few weeks have been rather peaceful. It wasn't any trouble at all; besides, there were letters addressed to myself included in this packet." Gaara moved to meet her, holding out the bundle. When her fingers brushed his palm, Gaara was tempted to hang on, to keep those fingers pressed against his own hand.

"Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to deliver these to me." Almost skipping back to her desk, Hinata broke the seal on a bright orange scroll, one that usually contained orders and such. She stopped mid step, and like clock work, let out a small groan.

"Bad news then?" Hinata glanced back at him before shrugging and continuing her way to her desk. Sitting down calmly, she spread the scroll across her desk, leaning against one hand. Gaara settled behind her, resting his arms over the high arch of her chair. Naruto's bold words of 'YOUR SISTER IS INSANE! HELP!!!' filled a good portion of the scroll, and Gaara smirked. Hinata's hand had moved to cover her mouth with her palm, cheeks red.

"Naruto-kun should really stop his abusing his privileges." Hinata muttered to herself, playing with her pen. A hint of annoyance washed through Gaara at the familiarity she had with his best friend, but he pushed it aside and answered with a simple "Hn." A minute of two of silence passed between them before Hinata broke it and sighed loudly.

"Maybe I should apologize for her…" She once again muttered, more to herself.

"Your sister seems to be rather impulsive for someone who is in the position of heiress." Gaara commented as he leaned over the back of Hinata's chair. With a groan, she let her head fall to her desk, cushioned by her arms. She really, REALLY, did not want to ponder upon how her own sister was traumatizing Naruto on a daily basis.

"Maybe she's trying to force me to come back sooner then planned." Hinata heard him grunt in response. "I'm sure that it'll work out so that everyone is pleased in the end." Well at least she hoped.

"Which means you're secretly praying she gives up then. The impulsive do not give up easily." Gaara pointed out, easily picking out the hidden meaning of her words. Trying not to wince, Hinata busied herself with unrolling a small, thin scroll and picking up a calligraphy brush. Pausing to think about how to start her letter of apology to Naruto on behalf of her sister, she began to paint her words across the paper. Watching Hinata carefully write out each character with quick, controlled brush strokes, Gaara felt his shoulders relax, taking in the aura of tranquility she seemed to radiate. As Hinata placed her brush down, she turned her head slightly, giving him a small smile.

"That's true, but she is young, and she has her moments, Gaara-sama."

"Perhaps."

"...She does." When Gaara didn't answer, she sighed a little before putting the brush aside. Giving Gaara a smile, she waited until he moved out of the way to get of her chair. With a smile, she automatically moved to retrieve the thermos of hot water, a clear sign for him to join her on the couch. Eying the chairs, and the piles of boxes on them, she sighed before preparing the tea and carrying the tray to the end table by the lone couch. Sitting down, she squirmed a little as Gaara sat down right next to her, waiting for her to pass him a cup. A little voice in the back of hear head was whispering, warning her that perhaps she should be trying to distance herself from this man. Why? Because...

"It has occurred to me whom your sister reminds me of." Gaara said suddenly, taking up the conversation previously abandoned.

"Really?" Hinata's eyebrows disappeared under her bangs as she offered him some tea.

"From how you describe her at times, she seems similar to Naruto around the same age."

"Determined, loud, forceful, and headstrong... I can see your point... B-but those can also be redeeming points too…" Hinata flushed, never realizing how, in some ways, Hanabi was a lot like her past crush. "But, unlike Naruto-sama, I think she's far more patient and unlikely to throw herself into danger..."

"You are ignoring her faults again." Gaara interrupted, shooting her a look.

"P-Perhaps she is more demanding and a little spoiled, I admit..." Hinata tried to hide her grimace behind her teacup, but her blush gave her away. A miniscule upturn of a lip was her only indicator that had found amusement in this. Gaara hid his smirk away behind his tea when he noted something.

"You're uncomfortable being this close." Gaara said bluntly, levitating the cup out of his hands and onto the end table beyond her. Jumping a little, Hinata looked at his cup, then her own, and then at the floor; Anything that wasn't in his direction.

"N-No I'm not!" she denied, but Hinata was never good at lying. Being this close, with him this attentive… It made her mind wander to dangerous thoughts. A hand appeared in her vision, taking her cup out of numb hands and letting it float away on a cloud of sand. Then said hand moved up towards to her face, alarming her and she automatically whirled around to face him. Their eyes met, and Hinata froze.

"Gaara?" Hinata whispered, throat going dry. She shivered as his hand brushed up her chin to brush the side of her face, fingers playing with the thin braid hidden in her side bangs. Closing her eyes, Hinata let all reason fall away and leaned into his hand, enjoying the feel of his rough palm against her cheek.

When she opened her eyes, Gaara dominated her view as he leaned in closer. His hand pulled away as his body caged her slightly. Alarm bells went off in the back of Hinata's mind, screaming at her to move, get away, and to not, absolutely NOT, let this man do what she thought he was going to do. But like a heroine in a corny romance novel, her thoughts were ignored, overwritten by the need to let Gaara do whatever he wanted, regardless of the consequences. His lips brushed over her own, as if asking if it was ok to continue on, and Hinata shivered slightly. When Gaara moved away momentarily, Hinata felt both relief and disappointment wash through her for a moment, only to be washed away as he pressed his lips against hers. A snarky little voice (that sounded a lot like her sister) made note that he was a horrible kisser, but Hinata didn't care. Logic and common sense eluded her, and Hinata leaned forward, silently urging Gaara on and hinting at a better way to kiss. They broke for air, only to have Gaara move back in to claim her lips and wipe her mind again.

* * *

How many kisses they shared neither one knew, but they wanted both knew that they wanted more. Gaara's hands tucked her body against his own as the blissful moment was shattered by the loud fluttering of wings. Both of them turned their heads towards the window to see a hawk standing on Hinata's window sill. It flapped its wings, hissed once, and flew off. Damage done, Hinata's wits returned with a vengeance, and she jumped backwards, straight out of Gaara's arms and onto the floor.

Eyes wide, Hinata pressed her fingers against her lips, as if confirming she had just let herself be kissed silly by the Kazekage, and then leapt off the floor. Darting out of her office, she left Gaara behind, face blazing red and tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. Gaara blinked as Hinata disappeared faster then a bolt of lightning, body still tingling in the aftershocks of pleasure and giddiness, when he scowled. Why had she run away when she had obviously been enjoying the kiss as much as he had? Darting off the couch, Gaara stormed out after her; He needed to find her.

* * *

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Hinata hissed as herself as she leapt over the railing of the stairs. Her mind was a chaotic mess, with questions and self-imposed accusations swirling around. _Just what the hell was that? Was she so stupid as to fall in lov- No, no, no, don't continue on that track!_ Closing her eyes, she fought back her tears and then crashed headfirst into a woman's chest.

"Hinata!" The woman's voice was familiar and when Hinata opened her eyes, she was greeted by a wall of purple. "I know you miss us all, but I don't swing that way, darling."

"I-Ino!" Hinata blurted out, jumping backwards again.

"Hina-chan, is everything ok?" Tenten asked as she walked up to the two other women. Hinata mutely nodded her head, before her knees turned to jelly and she passed out.

"Oi!" Tenten blurted out as she kneeled over the unconscious woman. Ino placed her glowing green hand on Hinata's forehead, worried look crossing her face.

"She's alright, but what the hell happened?" Ino said, moving to help Tenten lift Hinata off the ground. Both looped one arm around their shoulders when both went into a state of alarm as an agitated aura suddenly appeared behind them. Tenten let Ino take on the full weight as she turned with Kunai in hand, only to freeze. Gaara, with a rather murderous look to him, gave them a scowl before marching up to them and yanking Hinata out of their arms. Lifting her bridal style, he walked past them.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?" Ino barked out; Kazekage or not, he wasn't about to take their friend without a damned good reason. Gaara growled, pausing in the middle of the halls. For a moment, a conflicted look was plastered on his face, before it was mercilessly buried.

"Her lodgings, unless you think the halls are suitable?" Gaara ground out, arms unconsciously bringing Hinata closer to his chest. Tenten gave him a scowl of her own, before Ino sighed.

"Yeah, well, we just got here. How are we supposed to know where she coops herself up?" Ino shot back. Gaara gave them a blank look before continuing down the hall.

"Follow then." Was his response, and he didn't bother looking behind him to see if they were following. Gaara pointedly ignored the gawking stares and the outbursts of surprise as he leapt across rooftops, and focused more on the person in his arms. His frustration was shoved on the back burner with the appearance two Kohona shinobi and the fact that Hinata was back in his possession. Sighing loudly, he peered down at Hinata, frowning at her pained expression. Perhaps being blunt wasn't the best idea, but what else could Gaara do?

* * *

**AN, part 2: **Yes, I did make a snipe at myself up there. REVIEW! PLEASE! Auggghhhh! They'll be an explanation to wtf Hinata reacted so badly to this in the next chapter, if you don't already have a faint idea why.


	6. Declaration

**Author's Note**: Sorry for the delay, but I have somewhat decent reasons. One being that work did a 471-hit combo on my behind and forced me to put writing fanfiction WAY on the back-burner. Additionally, there was an issue with my muses wanting to start a whole new (and much darker) story, and the fact that writing Gaara and Hinata in love without applying the 'love-at-first-sight' stamp is stupidly hard. I mean it; It took me 5 drafts to get this even SOMEWHERE plausible, and that's only because I said screw it! Fast OOC route! Urgh, why do I find the two of the emotionless, hardest characters to write in an extremely emotional situation? Oh well, at least i'm past it and can just write fluff and eventually smut. (note to self, raise rating).

Unfortunately the first reason is also something to be concerned about, since there is a good chance i may need to delay or drop this entirely. Hm, i'll think that over later.

Gaara being this OOC makes me cringe, but I want to get this over with.

* * *

**Over Time**

Chapter 6: Declaration

* * *

The door slammed against the wall as it, seals and all, was forcefully opened by blunt force. Quickly removing his own footwear, Gaara disappeared into Hinata's bedroom.

"What the hell?!?" Tenten blurted out, hopping on one foot trying to get her own sandals off. Flinging them off, she stormed in after the Kazekage and froze as she watched him sit, as if he was used to it, and set Hinata down. Half of Hinata's body was on the bedding while the other half was seated in his lap. Ino hummed as she joined Tenten beside the door, eyes gleaming a wicked blue.

"Maybe you shouldn't be telling a certain 'nii-san' of hers about this?" Ino whispered in the older girl's ear, before leaning heavily on Tenten's shoulder, a thoughtful grin on her face.

"Well, I do like my eardrums." Tenten admitted, crossing her arms across her chest, giving Ino a thoughtful look.

"Do you think they're?" At this Tenten frowned.

"This is Hinata we're talking about." Tenten hissed.

"Hey, when she wants to, she could charm a smile out of a diamond. She's IS close to your teammate and that sourpuss teammate of hers." Ino shot back, giggling slightly.

"…Point taken. But you're STILL talking about Hinata." Tenten whispered to her friend.

"Mmmmm, are you sure that someone had planned this?" Ino said softly, face oddly blank. Tenten ground her teeth together, but remained silent.

Gaara knew that he had an audience of sort, but really, he didn't care. The two women stayed by the door, thankfully, while he got Hinata settled in. What he didn't expect was for her to latch onto his robes, curling her body slightly around his. Forced to sit down, he struggled to come up with an answer on what to do. Logically, he could of just pried her fingers off, but he was comfortable with her clinging to him. If it had been anyone else, Gaara knew he would of felt that uncontrollable urge to push them away before he could relax, but with Hinata, it was a comfort; It confused him greatly. Shifting slightly rewarded him with Hinata wriggling closer and making a noise. One of the women in the doorway gushed while the other hissed slightly, and Gaara stopped focusing on Hinata, eyes darting up to glare at them. The blond smirked and the brunette sighed when a soft groan surprised them all. Hinata's eyes fluttered open for a moment, trying to focus on where she was, when Gaara panicked. His body reacted before his mind could even recognize what he was doing, and stared as Hinata fell back asleep. Mentally swearing, Gaara felt Hinata's fingers relax as the sleep inducing jutsu took hold and her body go unnaturally limp.

"…I dunno if that was a good or a bad idea, but anyways, I'd take this chance and disappear for the night." Ino teased, walking into the room. Gaara tensed as she got nearer, pressing Hinata closer to his body, but she merely laughed. "Don't worry, she'll be fine tomorrow, Kazekage-sama."

"Hn." Gaara grunted before carefully sliding Hinata off his lap and standing up. Walking past the women, he calmly slid past them, kneeling only slightly to slip his footwear back on.

"Inform her to arrive at my office by 2 tomorrow." Gaara said curtly before disappearing around the corner. Ino and Tenten exhaled in relief before Ino kneeled before Hinata, hands pressed against her forehead and chest while Tenten closed the door, ripping off the ruined seals and throwing them in the nearby waste bucket.

"Don't even think about it." Tenten suddenly blurted out, moving past the bedroom door and into the kitchen.

"'Course not." Ino shot back, half focused on her patient. "Besides, someone's gotta lay down the rules."

"We're not here to play matchmaker Ino!" Tenten growled as she came in with two glasses of water.

"No, we're here to get blackmail!" Ino grinned before taking a glass and chugging it down.

"That's not it either." Tenten rubbed her temple with one hand. Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Even if I share?"

"…"

"Aw, no fun." Ino stuck out her tongue a little before. "Can you blame me for trying?"

"Easily."

* * *

Slowly coming to, Hinata opened her eyes, only to wince as the bright rays of the sun. Sitting up slowly, she rubbed her head, feeling uneasy at how fuzzy her head was at the moment.

"Oh, you're up, and at a reasonable hour for once!" Ino suddenly said, leaning into the room. Hinata blinked twice before her mind finally wrapped around the fact that Ino had mentioned a form of time. Glancing at the clock by her bed, she flopped back into her bed, covering her face with a random pillow. It was 9 in the morning and that meant the piles and piles of papers, some which had been left over from yesterday, (_don'tthinkaboutwhy!_) on her desk were starting to reproduce like bunnies. Maybe if she smothered herself to death, they'd disappear back to the senders.

"Hina-chan, what are you doing?" The pillow was plucked away and Hinata stared at Tenten, who was grinning. "It's not like you to sleep past 6 in the morning."

"Which can't be healthy! You of all people need sleep, no matter what you say!" Ino added from the kitchen.

"It… has been a very interesting week." Hinata admitted, turning on her side to clutch another pillow to her chest. She felt Tenten sit down beside her, and stared out the window.

"Would it have anything to do with a certain member of the male population?" Ino questioned as she came in a plate piled high with toast and eggs in one hand, a jar of strawberry jam and a butter knife in the other. Hinata immediately flushed pink, and tried to shake her head. Failing miserably, she curled around her pillow, hiding her face against it. Tenten and Ino shared a look before the blond began to poke Hinata in the hip. "No need to deny it, he was the one who carried you back home after all."

"Gaara-kun did what?" Hinata shot up, face as red as a tomato.

"Oh my god, a guy managed to lose the formal suffix!" Ino cried out in mock shock as Tenten snickered.

"I refer to Shino-kun and Kiba-kun in the same manner!" Hinata tried to argue.

"Yeah, but they've also been with you for how long?" Tenten shot back, grabbing a slice of toast, tossed an fried egg on top, and took a bite. Hinata could only groan and clutch her pillow close again.

"You know, at this rate, you're gonna have your first kiss when you're like 30." Ino grumbled. "By then, you'll be old and have like hundreds of cats hidden away in your apartment!"

"I-Ino, we've been over this before…" Hinata groaned into her pillow.

"None of those count!" Ino screeched out, leaning in close.

"Does it really matter?" Tenten said, rolling her eyes at the absurdity of the conversation.

"Yes! I mean, Hinata's sweet, kind, intelligent, got boobs that makes melons seem small, and she hasn't even kissed a guy, much less slept with one! It's almost so wrong it should have been labeled a crime!"

"Ino…" Hinata mumbled, not really sure if that was a compliment or insult.

"What about with that asshole of a man-whore, two years ago?" Chewing on her toast, Tenten thought back to said asshole who had pinned Hinata to a wall and snogged her once while groping blindly for a breast. Then Kiba, Neji, and even Shino got their hands on him; There were laws of nature and physics that somehow had been completely ignored that day.

"Doesn't count. Stolen kisses never count." Ino wagged her finger in Tenten's face, before swinging her finger at Hinata. "So that means no, no, heck no, no, …you're kidding right, no, no, doubtful, no, no, no, lollipops don't count, no, no, **no**…"

"Do I even want to know the details?" Tenten interrupted.

Pausing mid breath, Ino blinked. "We've had this argument way too times."

"Maybe…" Hinata agreed.

"Just proves my point. I just hope Gaara-san got a pretty decent package" Ino said, wagging her eyebrows. Tenten choked before forcing down the mass of break down her throat before snickering merrily.

"Package?" Hinata asked innocently, only for frown as her question sent Tenten into a breathless peel of laughter and caused Ino to get a devious look on her face.

"Sweetie, when a guy and a girl love each other enough, they'll eventually want to have sex. There's this thing on a guy called a …" A pillow to the face immediately shut Ino up, who only grinned as Hinata scooted off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Tenten asked, getting up after Hinata.

"Sorry, but I have to get to work before meeting with the merchant guild."

"Whom you apparently find distasteful." Ino suddenly said, which gained her two questioning looks. With a smile, Ino, lay down to lounge in Hinata's now vacant bed. "You never change."

"B-b-but I…" Hinata mumbled.

"I told you once, I told you twice, when it comes to me, you're as easy to read as a picture book when it comes to men." Ino teased in a sing-a-song way.

"Oh?" Tenten's eyebrow rose.

"It's easy. She didn't react emotionally at all." Ino pointed out.

"Ohhhhh, you mean the more the asshole, the more she acts like Neji on a bad hair day?" Tenten said with a giggle.

"You two are relentless." Hinata rolled her eyes before leaving the room and entering the bathroom. One quick shower later, Hinata attempted to dress herself, but the whirlwind pair that lay in wait quickly pounce on her and shoved her into clothing of various types. Managing to get some say in how her naval didn't really need to be shown, Hinata tried to leave, only to found herself followed out.

"Ino-chan, Tenten-san, no matter what you say, I have to at least finish my paperwork before it piles up." It was all Hinata managed to get out before a piece of toast smothered in strawberry jam was crammed into her mouth.

"Fine, fine, Paperwork we'll let you do, but other then that, we've got a marketplace to explore and tour guides are too expensive." Ino grumbled, shooing Hinata further down the hall. Sighing for the umpteeth time, Hinata couldn't help but smile; her friends always seemed to know when she needed a change in pace.

* * *

Standing by his window, Gaara tried not to scowl at the clock. The day had started off as it usually had, but as it came closer to his impromptu meeting with Hinata, he felt nervous. It was well past two and Hinata had not appeared yet, making Gaara go from nervous to disgruntled. A loud knock echoed through the room, and Gaara called for the stranger to come in, knowing full well that it was not the one he expected.

"Sorry to bother you Gaara-sama, but Hinata sent me to drop these things off." The blond said with a cheery smile on her face. Gaara nodded from his place by the window, fighting the urge to vocalize his irritation. She automatically placed the pile on his desk before leaning against his desk. "She says sorry for the trouble."

"Since you are here in her place, I take it you did not relay my orders then." Gaara snapped, eyes furious. Ino shrugged off, not even reacting to the unsaid accusation, eyeing the rattling gourd for a moment.

"Hinata-chan works too hard anyways, she needs a break once in a while." Ino replied, giving him a flirtatious look (or what Gaara could only assume was one).

"Hyuuga-san was informed when she arrived here that she has the right to request personal days off." Gaara said in a monotone voice, which caused Ino to blink. That was not the response she had been expecting.

"Well now, you don't know anything about the girl, do you." Ino shot back, a little spite managing to worm itself into her voice. "She would, actually she has overworked herself straight into the hospital; all with a smile may I add. Seems like you didn't pick up on that." Gaara didn't bother responding.

"You should give up on her; She's got too many _actual_ suitors at the moment. If you want a quick screw, find someone else." Gaara clenched his fist, shooting Ino the most murderous look he could fathom. Ino couldn't help but swallow nervously and shiver.

"Don't assume you know anything." Gaara snarled, taking a single step towards Ino before reigning himself in. The scalding flash of possessiveness and raw anger sang through his veins at the blond's audacity. He was having enough trouble AS IS with his own jumbled emotions with Hinata, and did not need some gossipy twit telling him what to do. Trying not to cower before the barely contained storm that was the Kazekage, Ino gathered enough courage to give him a patronizing glare of her own.

"Maybe, but if anything, I can put two and two together. You're deeply attracted to her, aren't you…" '_And, while neither one of you realize it, she's already reciprocating those feelings. While normally good that she got over the blond moron, right now...'_ Ino finished in her mind. Gaara bit down a flinch before glaring out the window. Ino groaned, unsure of how to make a conversation out of nothing; it wasn't her forte after all. Dealing with the anti-social, the un-motivated, the oddities of society, and the eternally brooding was, ironically, Hinata's job. Minutes of uncomfortable silence stretched between them before Ino turned on her heels to leave. Pausing, she sighed.

"Hinata is… complicated, and doesn't need an half-hearted asshole chasing after her skirts. Hurt her, and I promise you, there will be nothing able to keep all of us from shoving your balls down your throat, Naruto be damned." Ino stated, back still turned towards him. "Ciao."

Finally alone, Gaara slammed his fist into the wall. Part of him wanted to simply blow a hole into any random target, but he deferred to the part of him that mulled over Ino's words. Falling back into his chair, he flexed his hand absentmindedly. No longer filled with fury, he let himself actually decode the hidden meaning under the blond's façade. Taking one of the captains of the interrogation squads in Konoha at face value was a foolish thing to do, and in no way was Gaara an idiot.

* * *

Turning the corner, Ino raised an eyebrow as a pudgy, short man rolled head over heels from Hinata's office, a very sharp and well-kept spear sinking itself into the wall behind him.

"And stay out you corny, greasy, little puffball!" Tenten roared, before slamming the door. The half-bald human cueball whimpered before scrambling to his feet and running past Ino. Opening the door, Ino quickly plucked the kunai flung blindly at her out of the air.

"Oh. It's you." Tenten deadpanned, yanking on the spider thread thin strings to retrieve her weapons.

"Yes, fall to your knees in adoration, my lovelies, your mistress has returned!" Ino sarcastically replied, twirling the end of her ponytail. From her desk, Hinata barely looked up before pressing her seal on the contract she was finishing up.

"What, no hello for your messenger?" Ino said with a pout as she leaned against Hinata's desk.

"I'm sorry." Hinata said automatically, giving Ino a smile. Ino grumbled softly under her breath before grabbing a stack of papers from the desk and started to flip through them as Tenten stood watch at the door.

"So how many horndogs since I left?" Ino asked Tenten, absentmindedly skimming through a packet of papers.

"4, and 3 fathers as well as one singing courtier. If Neji-kun knew it was this bad, I think there'd be a full squad of the Hyuuga's best guards would be trailing Hinata-chan here like a hawk." Tenten replied, giving the now blushing Hinata a grin.

Ino sighed dramatically, leaning back against the couch. "Hopefully not, otherwise poor Hinata-chan will never get to prance off to a midnight tryst." Both girls ignored the loud crack as Hinata gripped the bamboo handle of her brush a tad too tight.

"Meh, it's not like she'd be missing much. Hinata, breath." Tenten ordered, patting Hinata on the back as she sputtered for breath. Looking at the two very amused looks on her friends face, Hinata knew she need a distraction, and fast. While it may cause her some physical agony and a few nightmares, she immediately came up with a plan.

"Well that's enough paperwork for today. If we're not fast enough, many of the fabric stalls and herbal stores will close for the day." Hinata said as neutrally as she could, before her arm was nearly yanked out of her socket as Ino yanked her out of her chair.

"While it's a good attempt, you really need to work on your excuses." Ino said, twirling Hinata around and shoving her towards the door.

"I-I-if you know it's a lie, then why are you shoving me out the door?" Truthfully, Hinata already knew the answer, but she may as well play the innocent card everyone claimed she played so wall.

"You mentioned shopping, do I need another reason?" Ino purred, eyebrow raised.

"I suppose not." Hinata replied, her voice tinged with a hint of regret. Before they exited the door, Ino remembered something before jerking Tenten along by her collar. Both of her captives had a look of dread of their faces and wondered if they'd survive the day.

* * *

Rubbing her wrist, Hinata groaned softly as her muscles struggled to stop their cramping long enough to let her finish her final report of the night. The tedious job of playing both tour guide and dress up doll for Ino for three days straight had been taxing, and it did not help that Tenten had discovered the weapons district. Add in the last 5 hours of non-stop writing trying to make her workload more manageable, it felt like her arm, no, her entire body was on fire. Biting her lip, Hinata attempted to massage the strained muscles, ignoring the pain. It was well past 3 in the morning, but she was so close to finishing.

However, the tremors that ran through her hand made it impossible to make the smooth strokes on the paper, which made the task even more frustrating. Leaning back in her chair, she closed her eyes to focus on the circling motions. Her oversensitive senses suddenly kicked into high gear and she snapped her eyes open to catch the doorknob beginning to rattle. Jumping up unsteadily, her hand snatched up the kunai hidden under her chair. Moving slowly away from her chair, Hinata waited for the door to open, only be greeted by an empty door way. Her instincts screamed at her to turn around, and (much to the protest of her muscles) twirled around, only to have her come face to face with Gaara.

"G-g-g-Gaara!" She blurted out in a hushed whisper, the kunai slipping from her now shaking fingers. Her knees gave out, but Gaara had already trapped her within his grasp and she collapsed, head resting against his chest. His hands shifted and pushed her up his body and closer still, until she was at eye level with his collarbone.

"Hinata…" Was all Gaara said, his husky tone sending a shiver down her spine and her fingers instinctively clinging to his jacket. Hinata could feel one of his hands trailing down her spine. Before she could smother it, a moan tore itself from her throat as his fingers tickled the small of her back. The muscles under her hands twitched and he repeated the motion, earning Gaara a breathy coo from Hinata. Squeezing her eyes tight, she tried to calm her herself down, fingers letting go of his coat and curling into fists.

"No…" Hinata whispered to herself as she tried to ignore the warm body and seeking fingers. "This… this is wrong." The petting motion stopped and the warmth disappeared, and when Hinata opened her eyes, she found herself staring at her desk and that last sheet of paperwork. Shaking her head, she inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to calm down her now racing heart. Rubbing her temples, she sighed. So she was hallucinating, a sure sign that she was overexerting herself. Hinata quickly scratched out the rest of her letter before putting it to the side. Standing slowly, she turned off the lamp on her desk and slowly made her way to the door. Locking it, she placed a hand against the wall and started on her way home. The darkness of the halls were periodically interrupted by the guard's flashlights, who quickly gave her a nod of recognition before moving on and continuing on. Reaching the stairs, Hinata bit her lip before stepping down. Ignoring the sharp twinge of pain from her lower back, Hinata somehow managed to get down in a respectable time.

"Ow." Leaning against the wall for a moment, Hinata groaned as she rubbed her back with one hand. Her moment of tranquility was shattered as the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight and she lashed out, adrenaline surging through her veins. However, it seemed her 'attacker' was either prepared or fast, as she found herself slammed hard into the wall. Sliding down, Hinata grimaced as the pain roared back to light and quickly opened her eyes, finding herself staring into the sea green eyes of the Kazekage.

"K-K-Kazekage-sama, I'm sorry! I-I-I meant no offence!" Hinata stuttered out, automatically moving to get on her knees and lower her head to the floor, when the sand tightened itself around her stomach, making her jerk back up. The sand tugged and lifted her back to her feet, but it did not fall away or return to it's owner. As if almost caressing her, it rubbed against the thin silk of her shirt, at times dangerously hovering close to the hem of her shirt. Shivering a bit, Hinata pressed herself to the wall, suddenly afraid of the intense flame now burning in Gaara's eyes.

"You have been avoiding me." Gaara said, words blunt and eyes locked on her. Breaking eye contact, Hinata bent her head to stare at the floor. A heavy sigh was the only warning she got as Gaara pressed his forehead to her shoulder, his own shoulders hunched. "Do you find me that disgusting then?"

"Kazeka…" Hinata trailed off, feeling him back away only to cage her. His eyes, normally calm yet intense were now wild, tortured even.

"Answer me…" Gaara whispered, pulling back slightly. The silence between them was thicker then paste when Hinata realized that, without her realizing it, her hand had moved towards Gaara's face. Trailing her fingers across his cheek, she leaned forward and for a moment, Gaara jerked back but it was enough to snap Hinata out of her daze. Hand dropping, she wrapped her arms around herself and falling back against the wall.

"I-I…" Steeling herself, Hinata met Gaara's eyes, "I could never hate you, but I cannot let myself indulge in my feelings."

"I don't understand." Gaara answered. Hinata's eyes burned slightly.

"It's better this way, so no one gets hurt." Hinata answered cryptically. Something snapped and Gaara grabbed her shoulders.

"It's a little too late to say that!" Gaara growled, fingers clenching tighter. Hinata shivered, before letting him pin her between the wall and his own body, arms wrapped tightly around her to prevent her from escaping too soon. "Stop being so elusive and give me your reasons, or do you take pleasure in word games?"

"That's not it at all!" Hinata blurted out, not caring if she was being louder then usual. Biting her lip, she focused on his fingers digging into her shoulder blades, the soreness; it kept her mind sharp. Gaara stared at her, eyes asking, demanding for her to continue. "Even though I… if I were to… No, I could never betray my family… it would just hurt us in the end. Love has no place for the women of Hyuuga decent."

"Naruto would disagree in an instant, so would your friends." Gaara argued.

"Yes… But it's not simple at all. The women of the Hyuuga, for as long as we can remember, has never married out of the family." Hinata said softly, eyes focused on the wall opposite of them.

"Your family is entrenched in the political and business hierarchies of several villages. Several of your kin have even married into various clans here in Suna over the years, actually." His tone was accusing.

"All members of the branch family, and most of them male. The women of main house is too precious to let it fall into other hands. When a daughter of the main family comes of age, they are placed with a consort within the family, or, very rarely, offered as a bartering chip with families involved in various enterprises. The man will marry into the Hyuuga family, cutting off all personal ties with their own kin. There have been those who've tried to get around this, but... If only it weren't so complicated." Hinata trailed off, falling forward slightly as she fought with the bitter taste in the back of her mouth. Gaara grimaced; It was becoming clear why she had forced herself to distance herself. His position as the Kazekage would never allow him to accept the harsh terms dictated by her family. It was ironic that being in a position of power was the source of his current woes and frustrations. But…Didn't she just admit to having feelings for him? Suppressing a shiver, he waited for her to continue.

"It's because I love you, that I'm being selfish and doing this." Hinata whispered into his chest, more to convince herself of this then to tell him. She was deliberately skirting around things and forgoing certain bits of infomation, but it wouldn't matter. Once Gaara had decided it was too much of a bother, Hinata hoped, she could slink away to lick her wounds. "I'm sorry."

"No." Gaara said, voice low and dripping what Hinata assumed to be disgust. Her breath hitched and she dug her nails into her arms before letting them fall lifeless to her sides. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? To drive him away before it could really begin to hurt him; As for her, Hinata was used to disappointment and pain, she supposed. She tried to move away, but his hands refused to let her go.

"Please, let go." Hinata pleaded. Instead of answering, he pinned her to the wall and brought her closer until he caught her lips with his own and, simply put, ravished her in that one kiss. Head spinning, Hinata melted against him, simply letting him take control. When he broke for air, he lifted her up the wall so that his face rested comfortably against the spot where her neck and shoulder began.

"Gaa-ra?" Hinata said, mind still reeling from the kiss.

"I once read somewhere that love was selfish in many ways, while remaining seemingly pure. It turns men into demons, who coveted and yearn to steal their precious ones away and take all they can into themselves. Trapping them, protecting them, trying to devour them whole, and utterly destroying whatever gets in their way." Gaara said, watching her from the corner of his eye. "The story was stupid and corny, the explanation somewhat romanticized… but it make sense. Perhaps it's fitting that I bore the title. Your reasoning is flaws, nor will I let it get in my way. Because whether you like it or not, I am not letting you go."

"Th-there are others who…" Hinata stopped as he suckled her neck slightly before nipping his way up her jaw, sand crawling up her body as well.

"I want you, and it is very rare that I do not get what I want." Gaara whispered in her ear. Suddenly there was a flash of hot pain in said ear and Hinata jerked away instinctively, but Gaara pulled her back. Wincing slightly, she moved her hand to cup her throbbing earlobe when something cool and glass-like brushed against her hand. Tracing it slightly, Hinata realized it was some sort of carved or molded glass earring, which was strange since she did not possess pierced ears before this. When her fingers touched the back, she couldn't find any latch or stopper, and she stared at Gaara, who had the smuggest look on his face for a moment. "You're mine."

* * *

**AN2**: reviews feed the muse. Just a hint.


	7. Bonding

**Author's Note:** Not Much to say other then this is pretty late, and short aint it? Unfortunately work hasn't let up much, and my plot bunnies have escaped for the time being. This is kinda a slow chapter, since I'm not quite sure about how to proceed. I'm gonna warn you here, it may help to read between the lines. For some reason, a lot of the personality flaws and quirks came out very soft for her this time, and easy to miss in my opinion. It was surprisingly hard to keep the characters somewhat IC without totally having to spell it out. Urgh, this is so sloppy. Right. Uhm. Yeah. Going that a way now.

As always, I do not own the original concepts of these characters. Heck, I don't even have a Beta, so what does that say?

* * *

**Over Time**

Chapter 7: Bonding

* * *

Hinata groaned as she flopped into her chair and buried her head into her arms on the desk, wondering how she managed to push the moon on its side and turned the ocean into a vat of endless blueberry jello. It seemed that fate was laughing at her, or perhaps pitying her by dangling this over her head. She wasn't quite sure, but what she was sure of that it wasn't going to fade away into the background any time soon.

Gaara had left her shortly after giving her the earring and she had limped as fast as she could back to her office to pass out on her couch. That following morning of the oddest confession in the history odd confessions, Hinata had woken up on her couch hoping it was another delirium-induced hallucination, only to have said hope disintegrate the moment her new piercing bounced off her skin. Straightening up slightly, her hand strayed up to the lone earring now permanently in her ear. It was weightless and fairly oozing with Chakra, but it appeared to be harmless. The crystal clear glass hung from her ear, hair thin strings of glass twisting around a large oval-shaped bead. Etched within the bead was a symbol of sort, the three points arcing downwards, which was further overlapped with the Kanji for love. She could only assume it was associated with Gaara's own family, and while odd, was lovely.

The problem with said earring that it had no latch or stopper, which meant she could not remove it without breaking it. Which, ultimately meant that the detail obsessive one named Ino would question her immediately and then help her restrain the 'conservative' one. Rushing home, she had thrown herself into the shower and then collected herself enough to face the firing squad. Ino had a smug look on her face but Tenten, to put it lightly, had snapped. Both girls barely managed to keep her weapon scrolls away and let her question Hinata's sanity and rage like a maiden aunt in Hinata's face for an hour before Tenten had calmed down enough. The three puzzled over how to proceed when a knock on the door summoned her back to work. Before she left, Ino called out to her. "Hinata, maybe you should just see how this turns out."

Hinata didn't answer, but mentally stored away Ino's advice. That first day was a blessing as she didn't run into the Kazekage once, but on the second day, he suddenly appeared early in the morning. The only thing he did out of the norm (for them) was brush her hair behind her ear so that his 'present' was no longer hidden by her hair and then suggested tea. She came in late on the third hoping to avoid him, only to have him appear just as she was leaving and invite her to join him in a meal.

A week passed by and without fail, he managed to catch her off guard no matter what she did. He pushed no personal boundaries, refused to force her into anything, but Hinata couldn't help but feel nervous. How he looked at her, spoke to her, the brief touches, it was so easy to fall into a false sense of security and think that nothing would bad would come of just enjoying his companionship. Pity that Hinata knew that kind of thinking was wrong. Unfortunately, no matter how careful they were, in a espionage based society, things will always get out. Especially when your self-proclaimed suitor had fan girls.

Fingers playing with the earring, her back stiffened slightly as she heard the faint beginnings of what could only be yelling, and wasn't surprised when the door to her study burst over and her body yanked out of her chair.

"Holy shit!" Kankuro said, jerking her head roughly to the side to get a clear look at her ear. "HOLY SHIT!"

"Yes, we heard you the first time, now let go before I find half-decent reason to hurt you." Tenten said, hands on her hip and scowl on her face.

"You have no idea what the bloody fuck this means!" Kankuro argued, clenching his fists. "Having that on her ear basically is a like an engagement!"

One of Tenten's eyebrows raised upwards, "It's just a earring."

"Right, and you're just a girl with a weapon fetish. This is serious." He shot back, rubbing the bridge of his nose while dodging a kunai. "I mean, I'm happy and all, but, couldn't he of at least told us sooner?!?"

"Where is she?" Temari asked immediately as she entered the study. Kankuro blinked and realized that Hinata had, at some point, slipped out of his grasp.

"The hell?" Kankuro blinked before Tenten rolled her eyes. Ino chuckled from her perch on the kitchen counter and tossed Tenten an apple.

"She slipped out a few minutes ago." Tenten said, answering Temari's question before giving both of them a bored look. "It's no use trying to find her."

"It's never been a problem before." A quickly buried guilty look flashed across Kankuro's face, who grunted as his sister's elbow slammed into his ribcage. Ino and Tenten glanced at each other for a moment, silent messages passing between them, before Ino broke eye contact and bit into her apple.

"It may be hard to believe, but Hinata's a S-class tracker." Ino said matter-of-factly, "If she doesn't want you to notice her or find her, you won't unless you're Neji or Shino, and those two can cause they cheat, the bastards."

"So she already knows about…" Temari trailed off, eyeing the rooftops. Ino shrugged before taking another bite of her apple.

"Huh, Gaara seems to be finding her pretty easily." quipped Kankuro. Ino stopped chewing, giving the wall behind the two a hard stare before sighing.

"Ok, so Gaara is cheating too. Geez, haven't you heard of privacy?"

"Yes, but we tactfully choose to ignore the fact it exists." Kankuro said, voice ending in a drawl.

Tenten couldn't help herself when she added in a snipe. "It's called a dictionary."

"We call it kindling."

* * *

The playground was empty this late at night, and the lack of children suited Hinata perfectly at the moment. She sat on edge of the top level of the wooden playhouse, blowing softly into the bubble wand, watching as the bubbles arc into the air before slowly floating to the ground. Holding out her hand, she caught one lone bubble on the tip of her finger, easily keeping a thin layer of chakra between the bubble's surface and her nail. Lifting it up, she watched as the moonlight made the many different hues of the bubble's surface appear and dance.

"Found you." The low, monotone voice from above made Hinata jump and pop the bubble. Turning in place, she looked up to see Gaara standing over her, staring down at her. Hinata couldn't help but blush.

"Gaara-san." Was the only thing Hinata could think of saying before turning a brighter red. "Uhm, I'm sorry, I'll leave." She blurted out, getting ready to bolt.

"Stay." Gaara commanded, freezing her where she sat. Before she could do anything, he sat beside her, watching her intently. Fidgeting, she began to twirl the wand in her hand, dividing her attention from it to the small dish of soapy water beside her.

"H-H-How long have you been standing there?" Hinata asked nervously, fingers fidgeting with the wand.

"A little while. You looked like you were enjoying yourself." Gaara said softly, moving to pull the wand out of her hands. However, Hinata surprised him by gripping it tighter, as if afraid he'd break the fragile instrument. He pulled away, but not before tucking locks of hair behind her ear. Hinata smiled uneasily, twirling the wand in one hand.

"W-well, yes, I guess I was." She admitted as dipped the wand into the soapy water and blew into it, filling the night sky temporarily with bubbles. Hinata couldn't help but smile and relax as she watched the bubbles float around lazily. Gaara, on the other hand, focused on Hinata.

"It's funny," Hinata suddenly said, "When Neji-nii-san first introduced this to me, I didn't know it was meant to be a toy."

"What else could it of been?" Gaara asked, confused. Even he knew that it was a form of entertainment; One that Shukaku didn't find very interesting, to be honest.

"It… was, uhm, meant to be a training tool. Neji-nii-san told me what it was later that day…" Hinata admitted, turning red. Gaara raised an nonexistent eyebrow and gave her a look that just screamed disbelief.

"I-I-It was a long time ago! It helped with the malnipulation of chakra… Here, I'll show you." Hinata blurted out. Reaching out, she 'caught' a large bubble, the spherical object vibrating angrily in protest as it was enveloped within a thin layer of chakra. Pulling it in close, she twirled it in her hand, before closing her eyes and concentrated. The bubbled shuddered before it split into five uneven bubbles. Proud of herself she blew them off her palm and watched as they floated towards the ground. "See?"

Gaara made a non-committal noise and Hinata sighed, leaning against him subconsciously, mumbling under he breath about how impossible it was to impress some men. It took three or so minutes for her to realize what she was doing, but it was too late by then. As Hinata tried to jump away, Gaara had already wrapped an arm around her shoulder, fingers absentmindedly tracing her collarbone. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye for a moment, but the message was clear as day; Don't move.

"I thought it more likely that young girls preferred dolls." Gaara said, pulling her closer still. Hinata gave him a bittersweet smile, before absentmindedly blowing a fresh batch of bubbles.

"Most girls do. Sakura-san has a kitten doll, Ino still has a stuffed bunny, I think, and Tenten hides a katana wielding turtle somewhere in her room." Hinata giggled briefly, before leaning in closer.

"What about you?" Gaara asked, hand trailing up her neck; It made Hinata nervous.

She shook her head, fingers playing with the wand, before continuing, "My clan believes that the earlier you train, the better and that toys are just a waste of time."

"It sounds like a logical theory." Gaara admitted, fingers now playing with a lock of hair. Squirming a little, she intercepted his fingers, pushing them away. He gave her a frown before returning his hand to her shoulder.

"Maybe." It was the only thing Hinata said; Gaara didn't continue the conversation as if sensing her discomfort. Looking down at her for a moment, Gaara then turned his attention skyward, staring at the moon. Part of him felt oddly guilty; As a child he had no concept of lack or wanting of a toy. If he had expressed interest, the toy in question would appear in his room later on at some point. They were empty gifts, but it made him wonder what kind of life Hinata had to of had, and how in the world did she turn out so… gentle? He wasn't sure if that was the word to describe it, but whatever she was, he wanted to keep her close. Except she wasn't a toy, she was a living thing, so even if he 'wanted' her, would she run away once he let go? Gaara was determined not to find out.

"This is nice, isn't it Gaara-san?" Hinata asked.

"Hm?" Gaara said, snapped out of his thoughts.

"Quiet times like this, where you can just stop and relax." Hinata tried to explain, turning her head momentarily.

"Yes." Gaara answered, readjusting his grip as she leaned closer.

"Nights as quiet as this has always been a blessing in disguise. Seems sad we always take advantage of it." Hinata trailed off, inhaling deeply for a moment before going completely lax.

He was warm, comforting, Hinata thought as she let herself enjoy the feeling of another human being simply sitting beside her. She couldn't recall the last time she felt like this; Shino was never into full body contact and Kiba was over affectionate, always smothering her with adoration, like one would a puppy. Absentmindedly, her fingers began to play with the hem of his coat when his hand slipped from her shoulder and moved to grasp hers. She watched, almost as if she had floated out her own body, as he intertwined his fingers with hers. Staring at their hands, she neither tightened or loosened her grip, boldly moving to rest her head against his shoulder.

"Why?" She whispered out loud to herself. Gaara jumped a little, letting go of her hand, before pulling her closer.

"Why?" He mimicked, uncertain if she had been commenting in their hands or something else about their situation.

"Nothing." Hinata said quickly, closing her eyes. The thick silence was comfortable for both of them, when Gaara realized that her breathing had changed. Looking down, Gaara realized that she was asleep. Shifting the both of them slowly, he pulled her into his arms and rested her head against his collarbone, one knee bent to support her back. He sat like that a while and simply watched her sleep, before an urge hit him. His fingers trailed down her arm before gently grasping her hand and weaving their fingers together. Pausing, Gaara glanced at Hinata before lifting her hand and kissing the back of her hand. Unsatisfied, he leaned forward, pressing his lips to her neck. Lingering there, Gaara relished in the feel of her pulse before pulling away. Eyeing the dark red blotchy spot now marring her normally unblemished skin, he forcefully suppressed an urge to try again and lifted her off the wooden floor. Stepping off the edge of the playhouse, he grunted as his sand couldn't stop the slight jolt as it bore the combined weight of Hinata and himself. Feeling her muscles twitch as she woke, he set her down and held onto her hand.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." Hinata apologized, face glowing red. Gaara gave her a nod before stepping back a moment and then pulling her along towards the exit. Unable to stop him, Hinata stumbled after him, pleading with him to let go.

"I can get home by myself! Y-you don't need to escort me…"

Gaara paused for a moment, before adjusting his grip so that she couldn't pull free. Feeling her tug once, he frowned before continuing on his way. Hinata resisted for a moment before adjusting her pace to match him, signaling her resignation. A warm feeling bubbled in his chest, a feeling slowing becoming less alien to him, and he pulled her closer.

He liked that feeling, the fuzzy, bubbling feeling of acceptance she gave him, as well as the warmth of her just being there to listen. But, Gaara contemplated, was it really ok to let himself get used to it? She could and would try to break away, for a reason she refused to state. When he pushed, she would grow quiet, as if hiding something from him with kind, sad eyes and soft smiles. He hated it, but he understood that she was not deceitful by nature and whatever it was, it must have been important to her at least. Too bad, Gaara decided, he would not let her go. Problems could always be resolved, barriers avoided, and he had already taken the first step. He'd let Temari argue with her family (or the group of cold, insensitive, prehistoric bastards, if Temari's reaction was to be believed.) Pride and satisfaction gathered in his chest, and escaped as a brief rumbling purr, which earned him a confused look from his chosen. Gaara squeezed her hand in response and she sighed, giving him an slightly annoyed look that he was slowly coming to enjoy. They walked in silence, the crunch of cold sand under their feet, but neither one felt like breaking it.

* * *

Now, very few people would ever think of the head of the Hyuuga clan as fatherly. Most thought him incapable, which was both a compliment and an insult. But Hiashi was indeed, a father, and right now his paternal instincts to flat out stomp the insolent dogs sniffing at his daughters were out in full force. He stared incredulously at the scroll, hardly believing that someone could be both formal and out right rude and insulting at the same time. Yet the Kazekage, a man he had never met in person, nor had any intentions to prior to this evening, had managed to both deal the biggest insult to his pride and a major blow to the paternal side to him. The aforementioned man was requesting, no, demanding that the terms of engagement be drawn and negotiations for his elder daughter start as soon as possible.

His first few thoughts that ran through his head were curses learned in his youth; Horribly outdated but still displayed his wrath nicely. The next were coupled with the feeling exasperation. He wasn't quite sure how, but Hinata inherited his grandmother's ability to endear themselves to just about anyone while remaining blissfully innocent. It was an annoying talent, but wholly unstoppable since the women in question were not actively trying. Finally, his thoughts were that of a clan head, what did such a marriage benefit his clan. Yes, the man was a Kage, but that did not mean it benefited the clan in any way. The alliance between Suna and Konaha were in no danger of being broken, so did not require the 'political marriage' card, and his clan had no special interest in any raw materials or wares that the desert bound country possessed. The elders would worry about the offspring of such a union being too strong and possibly ending in a threat to their home, and also it would bring up the topic he had been avoiding for so long, applying the cursed seal.

Regardless of what outsiders thought, Hiashi cared deeply for his clan, his nephew, and most of all, his daughters. When he had 'abandoned' Hinata, there were spies and watchful eyes all around her, ready to report and obliterate the problems and threats she didn't see. He was reluctant to do so, since it meant placing his elder daughter directly in the way of danger, but he had no other choice. The council were growing discontent and muttering things beyond his hearing (or so they thought), so sending her away both kept her out of their realm of influence and gave him hope that she would lose some of her hesitation and restraint.

His wishful thinking had paid off, but the damage was still done in the eyes of the council; In their eyes, she was weak and useless, hardly a worthy heir but a useful pawn. But to knowing eyes, the only thing weak was the fact that she held back far too much. He remembered the power behind her strikes, the wild, untamed chakra burning the four year old's fingertips. The young Hinata was deathly afraid of pain, both receiving and dealing it, and it didn't help that her own clan was slowly pulling away. She stood out of the way during the day, watching as her family walked their separate ways, and fled into the woods in the dead of night. Tears, blood, whispers, and soft pleas were offered to the tall trees outside the village walls, where she naively believed no one could hear. It was the second indication that Hinata was not as weak as she appeared. She never once complained to another human being.

Hiashi watched as she stumbled, faltered, and failed, and it was all he did. From the shadows and corners, he watched as his younger daughter would sneak away into her sister's room and whine about how much her hands hurt. Soon after, the young girl would 'sneak' away, hands wrapped and smelling of herbs. He watched as Hinata fell in love with a boy and that boy did more then watch. The loud mouth brat boasted to anyone who'd listen and did things hardly acceptable. That boy, however, radiated with confidence, conviction, and hope, and Hinata couldn't help but want to try and shine. Hiashi watched as she stumbled, but now she got up without a word of protest or a whimper. He watched as she blossomed into a strong, wise woman, worthy of leading their clan, and regretted not doing anything but watch. That boy grew into a man, and utterly shattered her heart. Hiashi almost gave into the urge to break his spine, but his training and composure stopped him; It however didn't stop his younger daughter and overprotective nephew from dealing justice in his place. Again, Hiashi watched as Hinata wilted, but she did not fade away. It took her a while, but she once again began to walk forward, almost obsessively focusing on aiding her family and village with all her being. And now? Did he, as a father, shelter her from the possibility of pain, or should he just wait and watch again? He needed a second opinion. Grunting as he stood up, he sighed. It was quite ironic the most ideal person to bounce ideas off of was the requested party, so Hiashi decided to settle for the third best thing.

* * *

_Breathe in… Breathe out. Calm… steady… don't lose your cool… Breathe in… Out…_

Hanabi repeated the mantra in her head as she leaned in close to the table, snips twitching. The thin tips occasionally rattled the brass plates around the gap, but she was just so damn close. It was late, beyond late, but it was the only time the new heiress had ANY sort of free time. Too many whining old men and lessons on proper etiquette and politics filled her schedule. It made her wonder how the hell her sister had survived it with a smile. As she inched the thin snips closer and closer to her intended destination, she held her breath in anticipation. Only to have all her work for the night shattered when a loud knock broke her concentration.

_KILL! MAIM! TORTURE! DEATH TO INTRUDER! MURDER! KILL! KILL! __**KILL**__! __**KI**__-_

"Hanabi, open your door." Abort previous commands. Hanabi clicked her tongue in agitation as she tossed the now ruined brass plate down on the table and opened the door for her father.

"Father, is something wrong?" She asked moodily, running her fingers through her unkempt hair. Her father gave one of the infamous 'compose yourself' looks, and pulled a deceptively plain white scroll from his sleeves.

"As future heir, I would like to get your input on a certain situation that came up." Hiashi replied, holding the scroll out towards his youngest daughter. Hanabi gave him a lazy look before quickly snatching the scroll from his hand. Normally she wouldn't of dared be so rude, but it was 2 in the morning, which meant she was entitled to be a little grumpy. She quickly scanned the letter, and her eye actually twitched. She was about to blurt out the first thing on her mind, but a soft, calm voice in her head told her to stop and take a moment to actually think.

"Huh. Well I got to admit, the guy has balls for sending this, especially since it's breaking protocol. But, as a sister, I'm going to have to rip off those balls." Hanabi stated bluntly, rolling the scroll back up and throwing it into the mess of parts and twisted metal on her table.

"Why do you say that?" Hiashi asked, not moving from his place in the doorway. Hanabi frowned, leaning her arm against the table.

"Because Hinata's not some kind of exotic bird, she's _my _sister. Last thing I'm going to do is let some idiot think he can take her treat her like some kind of shiny toy and steal her from us." Hanabi said softly. Hiashi waited for her to continue. "I'm gonna go request a extended mission to Suna tomorrow."

"…It would be pointless to stop you, so all I expect is a report within two weeks."

"Yes father."


	8. Clouds on the Horizon

**Author's note: **Hello there, I'm sure you've either forgotten about me... or are hiding tomatoes behind your back. Sorry for how late this chapter is, but work has managed to kill me with all the errors and the blowing up of things. The chapter is kinda short, but also kinda helping me roll the plot-stone along. A special thanks goes to Napris for reminding me that I really should of worked on this sooner. Admitingly, i was really closer to abandoning this fanfic. *coughs* A

My thoughts on this chapter? When i get a chance, this is one I really want to rewrite. Things are just not coming out right, but If I procrastinate any more, then it'd never get posted...

Anyways, usual disclaimers and warning: All characters here are, both, not my creation and VERY, VERY OOC.

* * *

From his perch on the rooftop, Gaara watched the tearful farewells below, eyes locked onto Hinata. The blond was latched onto Hinata, who seemed rather accepting of the death grip which threatened to crush her ribcage. A patient and loving smile was painted on Hinata's face as she hugged back, though not as tightly, and said something too soft to hear over the howling winds. The brunette gave his hiding place a pointed look before saying something, only to frown as the blond waved her off. The sappy hugs and looks continued for several minutes before the angry brunette's face smoothed into an impassive one and the two began to walk away. Gaara watched, with an almost morbid fascination, as Hinata stood in the courtyard, hand twitching against her side. She took one step then hung her head, hands clasped together. The two woman faded into the distance and Hinata's shoulders shook as she let loose a final sigh and turned to stare at him. Their eyes met for a moment, before she broke away and headed inside. Stepping away from the edge, Gaara nodded to his brother, who was absentmindedly chewing on a toothpick from the shade of the entryway.

"So they left already? Must of run out of excuses to stay." Kankuro said, flinging the toothpick away.

"Yes." Gaara answered automatically, eyeing the discarded toothpick with a hint of disgust. "…She seemed distraught."

"Well she's been away from home for a few months now, so I guess it's just a case of homesickness." When Gaara didn't respond, Kankuro turned his head towards his brother. The normally stoic man had a look of quiet contemplation on his face. "I'll go talk to her later."

"…Thanks."

"You'll just owe me a favor or three for this." Kankuro called out from over his shoulder, ignoring the glare on his brother's face.

* * *

Hinata flipped through the packet of papers, skimming through the words to pick out the important key facts and tidbits. Placing the packet aside, she reached for the next one, breezing through the thick package as well, before sighing giving up. Her mind was no where near focused on the task at hand, and she figured it was best to give it up while she had the upper hand. Getting up from her chair, she crossed the room and stood beside the window, watching the crowds below. Wrapping her arms around herself, she bit her lip as the uncomfortable sensation upset her stomach. The dusty streets were, for the most part, empty with a few stragglers here and there. The shadows danced on the street as the wanning moon peeked from behind heavy cloud cover, the air bitterly cold. As she stood there, the feeling grew, and Hinata could barely suppress her sigh of longing. Suna was an interesting place… but it wasn't the home she grew up with.

Missing were the leaf litter gathering in the corner of the streets and the eerie warmth which the forest gave off on nights like these. Even the wind sounded different to her; The breeze of the forest whistled and ruffled the leaf cover while the desert sands did nothing to hide the howl of the wind. The streets, so quiet here, would have been bustling with vendors and chattering groups. While Ino and Tenten had been here, she was given a taste of her home, and the ache she once ignored came back with a vengeance. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her arms, feeling a shiver run down her spine, and waited for her visitor to open her door.

"Hinata-chan, think you gotta moment to spare?" Kankuro asked as he closed the door behind him. Giving him a soft smile, Hinata turned from the window and towards the puppeteer.

"Is anything wrong, Kankuro-san?" Hinata replied automatically, smile still on her face.

"Not exactly the kind of answer I wanted, but guess that gets rid of the how-do-you-dos. Come on." Kankuro finished, turning to head out the door. Leaving it open, Hinata took it as a sign for her to follow. Quickly locking her desk and switching off the lamps, she followed, door closing behind her. A discrete motion sealed the door, but Kankuro briefly grunted before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her slightly. They walked side by side in silence until Hinata found herself walking into a somewhat familiar bar. Shoved into the bar, Kankuro motioned for the waitress to approach.

"A sampler plate, the big one, and the usual for me and whatever the lil' missy wants." Kankuro rambled off, startling the waitress before she could welcome the pair.

"Uhm, water please." Hinata asked. The waitress half heartedly pressed for more, but quickly left. Kankuro gave Hinata a sour look.

"You're getting somethin' stronger later. But anyways, so how far have you and my _loveable_ brother of mine gone?"

"Errmmm…" Hinata squirmed in her seat for a moment, "I-I-I'm not sure if that's really something t-to talk about."

"Course it is, cause I gotta figure if I need to get the maids getting used too actually changing his seats." Kankuro flippantly said, giving the waitress a cocky grin as she returned with the drinks and food. Picking up a fork, he stabbed a piece of sausage and popped in his mouth, enjoying the look of befuddlement and embarrassment on Hinata's face. "Not what you think. Gaara doesn't sleep much.""A-a-a-ah, well, it's not my place too question," She paused for a moment, "To inquire about his personal… _habits._" Hinata sipped her water, sure that her face was positively glowing a bright red. It didn't help when Kankuro couldn't smother his snickering entirely.

"Well, if you're not careful, you're gonna wind up with a front row seat." Kankuro said off handedly, pointedly ignoring the screeching of the fork as it ground across the plate. When he looked up at her, it took everything in him to not burst out laughing. Snatching up a pitted olive, he popped it into his mouth. What surprised him was that the flustered look slowly melted into one that could only be described as self-pity or even a defeated look. Letting the information sink in for a moment, Kankuro swallowed the salted treat. "You're not planning on leaving any time soon, are you?"

"It… That is… it has…I don't know." It was the only thing she could say without a doubt. She knew she needed to go home, for more then one reason. Those in political stations were not to allow themselves to let personal ambitions threaten their objectionist views. Add on a sense of longing to return home, and the solution should have been clear. But it wasn't clear at all. Part of her felt a sort of reluctance to leave the people of Sunagakure. There was a strange, quirky nature to the city that she was only beginning to discover. And then there was Gaara…

"You're worried." Kankuro's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, making her wonder if losing herself in her thoughts was becoming a habit.

Hopefully not.

"Look, if you're really worried about forming a bias, then I don't think anybody noticed yet." He ignored her wince. Throwing back the rest of his drink, Kankuro grew silent and stared at her. Hinata paused only for a moment, calmly waiting for him to continue. Minutes passed as Kankuro shifted uncomfortably in his seat, eyes shifting. Finally he snapped, letting out a heavy sigh. "Give it a chance."

Hinata's shoulders jolted up in surprise, her face instinctively turning a shade of light pink. Hanging her head, she shook her head. "Gaara-sama will understand."

"You give my brother too much credit. He may try to pass off that 'I'm-an-ice-cube' image, but he's the most clingy person I met." Signaling for the waitress to refill his drink, he continued as if Hinata wasn't giving him a look of disbelief. "It's pretty obvious if you look at it from my point of view. Gaara's a pretty boring guy; day in, day out, you can practically predict what the hell he's doing. To him, only a few things matter, and he'll do everything in his power to protect it. Now you come into the picture and, well, we already know what happened. Try to pull away, and he'll be pulling you right back."

Sipping her water slowly, Hinata mulled over his words, feeling an unpleasant sensation roll in her stomach, curiosity.

"Ah." It was all Hinata could think to say. Every instructor, every class, every experience she ever had told her that to be needlessly curious invited the chance of death, disappointment, and destruction. Curiosity was an urge to be ignored, but she couldn't help it. Was Kankuro right? Would Gaara try anything? Shaking her head hard, she banished the thoughts since it would do her no good in the long run.

Meanwhile, while Hinata mulled over her thoughts, Kankuro watched her, a frown hidden behind his cup. After the little surprise and months of gut feelings, he had decided to pull a full investigation of the Hyuuga beauty. The results had been a mix of the ignorable, surprising, and outright out of character, if what she presented was her real face anyways. Everyone on the administration staff knew she was meticulous while constantly on time with her work. What people didn't know, or maybe it was better phrased as realized, was how manipulative she was. It wasn't that she was forcing people to do something or forget things, she just gave things to people who would actually get it done. Whether through observation or sweet talking (more likely the former…), somehow Hinata had pinpointed each person in the hierarchy for the job; a feat a very select few had yet to do.

Kankuro deduced a mix of dealing with her own family, the roles she took on as the grinning idiot's advisor, and her own unique talents as a tracker was to blame. If he had to be honest, her record as a Nin was not as impressive as her teammates, though that could be somewhat blamed on her genin days. Later on, especially when she was paired up with the bug-freak and the mutts, her success rate went up. Information gathering, retrieval, and hostage situations were her strong points, while her battle skills left much to be desired, or known for that matter. Very few notes were on her physical and battle stats; The only thing of worth in her file was her unusually high accuracy as well as her defensive abilities. It would take time before his team could crack the lockdown on the Hyuuga's key moves, much less Hinata's own, but Kankuro could wait. So caught up in his musings, Kankuro almost missed Hinata's question.

"Well I have to leave eventually, so what then?" Ok so it wasn't much of a directed question but more of a outspoken thought. Here Kankuro paused for a moment. He had gotten a first hand look on his little brother's actions lately, and his attachment to this woman (though Kankuro still couldn't pinpoint why; it wasn't like she was treating anyone differently) would mean that she wouldn't slip away quickly, or easily. Gaara would not risk his country, nor its well-being or relations, but she was just one person, and thus, something which could be teased into their grasp.

"Dunno, but I don't think we're gonna have to worry about it for a while." The lie slipped past his lips easily, trying to soothe Hinata's nerves. At least he wasn't against lying, like Hinata apparently was. She didn't need to know that he, and Gaara, knew about her resignation letters being sent back home. "For now, eat. You haven't all day."

"H-how did you know?" Hinata blurted out before reaching for a piece of spiced jerky.

"The secretary." Kankuro answered, giving her a knowing grin from behind the rim of his glass.

"The secretary?"

"Yeah, she was bitching non-stop today." Hinata's confused stare gave him all the answers he needed to know. "When you get into, and I quote, your 'psychotic, unresponsive, auto-drive, evil-robot-modes', you always give her like four times the normal work. The whole administration knows whenever you've quit being human for a few hours."

"I-I-I'm sorry. I'll apologize t-to her later."

"Nah… We're all used to it, all thanks to Gaara. When you two start the family, I'm kinda worried about what kind of habits you'll be teaching the brat." This time her fork went clear through the plate.

"D-don't you think you're jumping the gun a little too quickly?" Hinata blurted out, wriggling the fork free.

"Nah, Abstinence is a bitch, causes all kinds of problems with the sex drive when the restraints are off."

"You're n-not going to stop, are you?" She asked, though she knew the answer. He only gave her a cocky, Kiba-esq grin and she sighed, knowing full well it would be a very long night.

* * *

Gaara glared at his desk, or more importantly, the pile of half baked, pointless proposals on his desk. It was late at night and he had more important things to do, and more interesting things to investigate. Such as why his closet friend had sent him a very unprofessional, borderline insultive letter asking him the three w's; Why the heck was Hinata sending in a resignation due to her own incompetence (which was not something she was even vaguely associated with in Naruto's oh so humble opinion), who the hell was the fucker screwing with her, and what the hell was he, as the Kazekage, was going to do about it. The angry brush strokes and shaky characters fairly radiated Naruto's own brand of brotherly/friend type concern, and it, unfortunately, made it near impossible to read.

Luckily, there was an additional note included, from a oddly concerned Shikamaru, explaining the whole situation. The lazy bastard, Temari had called him earlier that morning, gave a brief overview of the chaos on their end. Even though it wasn't necessary, for this quarter, for her to remain, it would take time and effort to train someone else. Plus there was no guarantee that they would be anywhere near as competent as Hinata was, since the last months had been problem free, minus the petty spats and everyday swindle attempts. Add in Gaara's own personal _interests_ with the young woman (of which they were unaware of), they all agreed a resolution to this problem would need to be discovered. Problem was that none of them had the faintest idea of what it was, thus the whole situation frustrated him. Lifting himself from his chair, he slipped the letter into his pocket and prepared to leave when a knock caught his attention.

"Enter." Gaara said with a sigh, before lifting his gaze from the desk, only to find himself face to face with an uncomfortable scene. In his doorway, an exhausted Hinata stood, barely shouldering the babbling, intoxicated thing he sometimes was proud to call his brother. Quickly moving to share Hinata's burden, Gaara lifted his brother's arm over his head and shifted his brother so that the weight fell upon him.

"S-s-sorry for bothering you this late, b-but Kankuro-san was insistent to return to his quarters instead of staying at my place for the night." It was most likely his brother instinctive need to live; Getting drunk and possibly molesting your younger brother's love interest was most definitely classified under suicidal.

Gaara just nodded before hefting his brother off Hinata, only to hear her cry out in alarm. Kankuro mumbled and clung to the woman, hand bunching her fabric of her jacket around her waist tightly. Gaara waited until she gave up trying to remove the hand and gave him a sheepish look. She moved in closer and stepped backwards out of the door, giving Gaara room to follow. They moved slowly down the hallways, ignoring the babbling idiot between them, and stopped in front of a locked door. With a quick motion, Gaara unsealed the door and pulled the two of them into the Kazekage's private quarters. From the corner of her eye, Hinata barely caught the figure of a woman fleeing around the corner, and a inkling of dread lodge itself in the back of her mind. She could only pray that she was just being paranoid about fangirls as she was tugged into the door.

Though none of the lights were on, the faint moonlight illuminated the rooms, casing an eerie feel to the room. It wasn't empty, nor did it feel cluttered to Hinata, it was more on the lines of Spartan in style. She could make the faint outline of a table and a couch, and a pile on oddly shaped things on some sort of shelf, but nothing else. Then, without warning, the lights flickered on and she flinched as her eyes adjusted.

"Wait here a moment." Hinata blinked before she realized that Gaara was trying to pull his brother's hand from her waist. Biting her lip, she let Gaara wrestle with the groping hand, before he slowly extracted the fingers and roughly dragged his brother away. As they walked up the stairway, Kankuro stirred only once..

"You're not drunk." Gaara whispered under his breath, giving Kankuro an accusing look. With a grin, Kankuro stood up straight, lifting his arm from his brother's shoulders.

"In about 4 more drinks, I could be." Grunting uncomfortably, Kankuro kicked the door to his room open, purposefully letting it slam loudly into the wall. The two men could faintly hear the startled eep from down the halls, and Kankuro kicked off his sandals. "I want tomorrow off for this."

"Why?" Kankuro simply answered his brother by slamming the door in his face. For a moment, Gaara just stood there, staring at the door in confusion. Slowly, he settled for a scowl and stormed down the stairs. Glancing around the room, he found that Hinata had not moved from the entryway, looking completely drained and helpless, and was slow to sense his presence. She shook her head and attempted to hide her yawn, before looking up.

"It's late, you should rest." He kept his voice low, his gaze intense.

"You're right. I'm sorry for bothering you so late." Hinata murmured, though she made no attempt to move from her place by the door. He moved slowly, as if not startle her, and slowly placed himself between her and the door.

"There is a spare guest room you can use upstairs." This made her jump and turn an adorable shade of pink.

"N-n-n-no, I'll b-b-be alright. I really sh-should get going." She said, stumbling over her words before settling on biting her lip. It could have been the fact that she was exhausted, but something about Gaara made her feel uncomfortable, like prey. As he moved forward, she instinctively took a step. Unable to break her eyes away from his gaze, she suddenly felt the floor sweep itself out from under her feet and with a oomph, she fell onto silken sheets. But when had he? Hinata's mouth gaped open before she closed it quickly as Gaara ran his hand through her locks.

"Sleep well." Gaara said, hand lingering against her cheek, before he pulled away and headed for the door.

"You too." Hinata faintly replied, to which he paused and turned his head as if to say something, before he changed his mind and nodded. Door clicking shut behind him, darkness once again enveloped the room, leaving Hinata to wonder what had just happened. The window tempted her with an escape route, but her sudden disappearance would worry her sudden host, and leaving out the front door wasn't seeming a plausible idea either. She struggled with her feeling, before giving into the weariness seeping from her bones. Quickly slipping off her sandals and then her jacket, she crawled up the bed and closed her eyes.

* * *

It was days after her unexpected sleepover in the Kazekage's private quarters when her previous fears about fan girls reared it's ugly head. Wringing out the stained cloth, she began to rub furiously at her front door, slowly washing away the ink. She was thankful that it was only her own quarters that suffered, but even a petty fan wouldn't dare deface her office door and risk a official rebuke.

"I suppose it would of happened eventually." She murmured to herself, thinking back to the war Sasuke's fans had waged against each other. Ignoring the feeling of doom crawling up her spine, she scrubbed at the door harder.

"What in the world happened here?" An indignant voice cut through the peaceful solitude of the hallway. Looking over her shoulder, Hinata gave her younger sister a uneasy smile.

"It's a long story."

"By long, I'm hoping you mean you catapulted whoever did this over a very LONG distance. Preferably into the pricker bush patch in the desert I passed by." Her sister snarled, finger tapping against her forearm.

"Hanabi-chan, it's alright."

"It's alri- Are you cra- What do you mean by al- If you weren't my sister, I'd so beat some sense into you right now." Hanabi settled for that, giving the wall a withering glare.

"I wasn't expecting you for few hours." Hinata paused mid scrub as her sister wrapped her arms from behind and squeezed her tight.

"I missed you, Nee-san." Hanabi blurted out, her words muffled as she talked into Hinata's shirt.

"I missed you too." Hinata covered her sister's hand with her free hand. "Before I forget, father forgot to mention why he sent you here."

"Stuff. By the way, I'm supposed to tell the Kazekage's brother to stop poking his nose in places it shouldn't be for Nara-san."

"Stuff?" When Hanabi didn't answer, Hinata sighed. Suddenly she was no longer homesick anymore.

* * *

**AN:** Reviews help remind me to get off my tired butt and get back to work, just saying.


	9. Confrontation

**Author's Note**: Ok, so this is time I'm a little faster with the chapters, since it's been brought to my attention that time management with these side projects is kinda... bad. It also helped that my muses decided to come back for this round and work didn't kick my rotundas behind.

It could also be noted that this a chapter more dedicated for getting the stupid plot moving along... Romance and mushy moments are not my strong points, admittingly...

Not giving anything away yet, there is a part in this story that, in the beloved tradition of overused cliches, mention singing. If you are looking for suggestions for this part, the song I listened to is called Inori by the unfortunately deceased Kawai Eri (she also did the opening song for the first part of the OVAs of tales of symphonia). The song itself is in latin, I think, and is a prayer of sort, so it fits, plus she was a stunning voice.

Personally speaking, I do know that Hinata's voice actor is an accomplished singer, but I just couldn't really get a good vibe with how she sings and how she plays the aforementioned character. Her songs better suit her stronger willed roles, like Utau, though it may also be because I have only a few cds of hers. Another singer I used as a muse for this is Shikata Akiko... Uh yeah, I listen to specific music while writing.

Standard rules apply; Most characters are horribly ooc, and I do not own any shareholder rights to Naruto or Shonen Jump in general.

* * *

"You're kidding me right?" Sakura's voice boomed through the noisy restaurant, causing people to turn at stare at the pregnant woman. She didn't much care either, brain still trying to wrap around the tidbit of gossip that Ino had just fed her.

"Would I lie about something like this, bowling ball?" Ino teased, giving a pointed look at Sakura's expanding stomach. With a growl, Sakura glared at Ino, and then at the bar. Damn Naruto and his sudden obsession with maternity books; If it weren't for them, she could of slipped in a drink or a salted treat or two once in the every long while, but no, he had expressly forbid any bar within the village to serve her anything alcoholic or processed, leaving her with tea. Stupid cravings were driving her nuts, and thus, Sakura used Ino as a punching bag. Hm, she could go for a bag of nuts now too.

"I dunno, you are a vicious tart sometimes, you know." Sakura shot back, taking a hefty gulp of her tea.

"Yeah, well, it's true. Seems Hina-chan's got the Kazekage's feathers ruffled, in that way."

"Huh, who would of thunk." Sakura muttered under her breath, nails picking at the fraying wood of the old, rickety table. "Gaara and Hinata, I would of never thought of 'em as even compatible."

"I guess at first glance it'd be true, but really, it's actually not that hard to imagine. The Dark, brooding, semi-psychotic loner and the sweet, shy girl." Ino countered, shrugging as she took a long, torturous sip of her fruit infused sake.

"This isn't like one of your corny romance novels, Ino. It's _Gaara_. I mean, really, don't you think their situations are just too different? She could get seriously hurt."

Ino paused and glanced at Sakura, a serious gleam in her eyes. "Somehow I don't think they're that different." Ino's words were soft and cryptic, shutting Sakura up. The pink haired woman mulled over her friend's words, slowly concluding that perhaps the two had some similarities.

"I don't know… There's no way that Hinata would just up and leave; she's almost obsessively loyal to her family and people she care about." Sakura said, wincing at the harshness of her words. Ino gave Sakura another look.

"Says the girl who swore that she's love Sasuke-chan for ever and ever and eeevvverrrr."

"Look whose talking! I recall a certain piggy-wiggy trying to outdo me in her proclamation of love!" Sakura shot back.

"At least I didn't settle for bestiality." Ino snickered, gloating merrily in Sakura's face. Before she could snap, a evil little voice flittered through her head.

"Does that mean Hinata and I could start a club?" A spray of syrup and alcohol perforated that air as Ino began to both choke on her drink and laugh herself breathless. "How long do you think they'll hold out for?"

"Hm, from the look that the redhead was giving her, I'd say a month before he jumps her bones and cripples her for a week."

"Good, the girl needs it. Though if the human chastity belt is still there, I'd wager it'll never happen."

* * *

Elsewhere, Gaara's head snapped up as Hinata sneezed for the seventh time in five minutes. Giving her a wary glance, he stood up slowly as Hinata murmured something inaudible into the silken handkerchief she had covered her mouth with. He moved in close, briefly remembering something Temari had done the first time he had ever fallen ill. Pressing a hand to her forehead, he watched as her expression went from mysteriously annoyed to flustered. Reaching up, Hinata tried to brush his hand away.

"I'm alright." The look he gave her screamed disbelief, but her forehead wasn't hot nor clammy, so why did she sneeze so frequently, out of the blue?

* * *

"Her sister is hardly an omnipresent force in her life, so you never know." Ino pointed out, finger twirling in the air slightly.

"I guess… Yeah, besides, are we even sure she's still… Remember when that girl kept trying to seduce her? It was so adorable." Sakura snickered.

"Still got that picture of said girl frenching her?" Ino asked with a grin.

"Yeah, though I can't blame her. If I swung that'd way, I'm be chasing after her skirts too."

Ino made a snickering noise. "Agreed, if we could ever get her agree to wear them." Lifting her cup into the air, Sakura gave Ino a million watt smile.

"Here's to Hinata's success!"

"May the girl get laid." Ino cheered, before chugging down the rest of her drink. "You know she's going to get back at you for this."

"Yeah… well… call it payback for her introducing maternity books to Naruto. Damnit, I really could go for a crate of nori crackers right now."

* * *

Back in the records room in Suna, Gaara blinked as Hinata quickly turned around and sneezed once again, this time the momentum causing her hood to slam itself over her head and her book to fall to the floor. Pressing the silk handkerchief to her mouth, she sighed loudly before kneeling down to grab her book, only to freeze as she left his hand press against her shoulder.

"I'm alright, really." Hinata said, voice stressing her words in irritation. Slowly, Gaara nodded before stepping back, watching as she said a quick goodbye before darting out the door. Temari entered almost immediately after, a confused, yet bemused look on her face.

"Something wrong?" Gaara gave his sister a pensive look at the question, before a grin that could only be described as devious grew on his face.

"Temari, say something negative about Hinata."

"Wha? Uh, I guess…" Temari hesitated, unsure if this was some kind of trap, "If I didn't know any better, I could sworn she was pretty heavyset in that stupid coat of hers." A loud sneeze could be heard down the hall, followed with the faintest of muttered curses. Staring at the door, Temari slowly turned back to her brother, intent on asking him what that was, but stopped when she saw her brother's version of an amused smirk on his face. Perhaps it was best not to ask after all.

* * *

_Hinata could hear singing… soft, beautiful, and sad. The broken tune tried to lull her into a sense of security and comfort, but Hinata knew better. This was always how the dream started out. As if on cue, felt the world shift under her, and she tumbled to the floor, her small frame unable to stop herself as she hit the floor with a jolt. Two cups tumbled over, spilling amber liquid all over the floor. Looking up, all she could focus on was the spasming, screaming form of her mother and the white froth gathering around her lips. Quickly standing, she tried to shove her way through the crowd around her mother, and then something blurred and all went black. When the dream flickered back into focus, she was standing in the entryway of a dark room, like many time before. Before she could even open her mouth, a high pitched giggle, that sounded so familiar yet strange._

"_Where's your mother, little girl?"_

With a jolt, Hinata eyes snapped open as she barely managed to block a fist to her jaw as her still sleeping sister attempted to toss and turn, before her free arm settled for clinging the hem of her nightgown. Gently setting the fist aside, Hinata began the tedious process of extracting herself from her sister, when her sister showed signs of waking.

"Too… early." Hanabi managed to spit out before letting go of Hinata and curling into a giant ball of blankets. Smiling, Hinata quietly slipped off the mattress, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Careful not to make too much noise, Hinata quickly freshened up before wandering to the balcony. Eyes focusing on the sun which barely peeked over the horizon, she slid down to the floor, leaning her back against the cool stone. Slowly, the sun began it's climb into the sky when a blur of cloth broke her gaze. Looking down, she waited for her sister to wriggle her head out of the bundle of blankets.

"Your feather tuffs are missing, owl girl." Her sister grumped, resting her head in her sister's lap.

"I didn't ask you to follow me out." Hinata retorted, though she made no move to remove her sister's head from her lap. Her fingers strayed to her younger sister's hair, running the thin strands through her fingers. "You should head back in, the bed is more comfortable."

Hanabi's answer was short and to the point. "Don't feel like it."

"Hm." Hinata watched as her sister's eyelids began to droop and curl further into her lap. She fought the urge to giggle; It brought her back to the days when she was 14 and her sister was 9, where they would be like this in the gardens of the main courtyard. The only thing missing was the warm back of her cousin as he leaned against her own, all of them enjoying the serenity of the early morning, where Hyuuga branch divisions could just go straight to hell. Inhaling, she tried to imagine the warmth again and closed her eyes. Chakra flowed to her finger tips as she began to rub small circles into her sister's skull, enhancing the sweet lull of sleep like their mother did for her, so long ago. Ignoring the sensation of eyes that watched them from their perches, she leaned further against the stone and inhaled before singing a lullaby. Sweet words to sing her sister into a peaceful dream, driving away any dark thoughts… for now.

* * *

Nibbling on the sweet treat, Hinata finished applying her administrative seal on the final packet of papers for the day before slipping them into her knapsack. In her chair, her sister poked at her mostly unfinished food, glaring at Hinata's earring with as much disgust as she could muster. When her hand unconsciously brushed against the earring, her sister made a noise, and Hinata sighed. Her sister made a point that the damned thing was like putting a marker on a damn cow, but Hinata thought the earring was pretty, though she would need to get her other ear pierced to match it.

"Don't bother, once we're gone, you can just break the thing and forget it." Hanabi said suddenly, as if she had read her sister's thoughts.

"Hanabi, you know I cannot leave until granted leave by Naruto-sama." She was sorely tempted to also mention how her current behavior was unbecoming for the heiress, but Hinata knew such words would be ignored. She settled for giving her younger sister a look before taking a look at the impromptu schedule her sister had given her. "You should get ready for the meeting with the Kazekage. Will you need me to accompany you?"

"I'll be ok." Hanabi said moodily, stealing the rest of Hinata's brownie and taking a healthy bite out of it. Hinata raised an eyebrow, and then made a wordless noise under her breath. Pausing mid-chew, Hanabi stared at her sister, before forcing down the sticky, chocolaty mass down her throat.

"Nee-san, do you like him?" Hanabi asked warily, eyes focused on her sister's face. Hinata's cheeks flushed red, and Hanabi winced.

"H-H-He.. That is… G-Gaara-san is certainly admirable." Flustered, Hinata began to twiddle her fingers together, staring at the table.

"Do you like him?" Hanabi pressed, before freezing and turning to give a scowl at the pair who appeared beside them. Hinata looked up when her sister stopped talking and then noticed Matsuri.

"Matsuri-san, Sir, how may I help you?" Hinata asked, a little wary about the woman's actions. Matsuri visibly bristled for a moment, before turning to her younger sister. She tried to say something, but faltered, jaw clenching angrily. The unnamed male gave Matsuri a concerned glare before stepping in.

"The Kazekage sent us to escort the heiress of your clan to the tower, M'lady." The man's voice was neither smooth or grating, but something in his tone set Matsuri off even more, this time her shoulders growing stiff. He bowed low to Hinata before carelessly tossing a long blond braid over his shoulder and offering a hand to Hanabi. With a sniff and a harrumph, Hanabi stood up stiffly from her chair and marched around the man.

"I'll be back soon, Nee-san." Her younger sister waved over her shoulder before storming down the street, leaving the man to run after her. Hinata sighed softly, before turning to Matsuri who was staring at her feet. Never taking her eyes from her, Hinata waited patiently for the woman to sort out what ever was on her turbulent mind, eyes taking in her stiff form.

"I don't get it." Matsuri hissed out finally, shoulders sagging as she gave Hinata a heart wrenching look. "I mean, I've been with Gaara-sama for years, and suddenly you come in and… I mean I'm happy for him, but…" Matsuri shifted in place, her normally pleasant face marred by anger.

Irony was the word Hinata used to describe her own thoughts; She could easily recall the same situation, though this was not in a darkened bar, and she was not the accuser. Looking down at her hands, she didn't bother avoiding the hands the shot out and snagged her collar. Letting herself be dragged out of her seat, she waited for the woman to stop screaming at her and spilling her guts. The angry words trailed away, pain slipping away as the distressed young woman sank to her knees and sagged forward. Unsure of what to do (ordering alcohol wouldn't work quite as well as it had when she had confronted Sakura, neither would the 'light' tap Sakura have given her), Hinata slowly reached forward and put a hand on the back of Matsuri's head, stroking the coarse, thick strands slowly as she kneaded her own chakra into the woman's skull. Matsuri only tensed once before relaxing. A minute or so passed by, before Matsuri batted the hand away.

"That's a dirty trick…" She weakly accused, and all Hinata could do was blush. Quickly wiping her tears away, Matsuri stood up and gave Hinata a very shaky smile. "You'll make him happy, right?"

Hinata froze, unsure of what do say. "I-I-I cannot promise anything."

* * *

"Kazekage-sama, if this is a problem, I'd be more then willing to reschedule." The coltish young teenager said, unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes slightly. Gaara's own eyes narrowed, before ignoring her once again and breaking the seal on the envelope she had handed him. Scanning the letter, he felt his forehead crinkle in both annoyance and confusion. The missive the Hyuuga leader had sent him was not what he was expecting. Instead of a clear approval or a curt no, a cryptic, if not poetic message was given to him. Looking up from the letter, he gave the bored young Hyuuga heir a glare before holding out the letter to his brother, who just gave him a confused shrug before handing it back.

"Explain." Gaara ordered. The young woman almost scowled before quickly snatching the letter out of his hand and giving it a quick glance. Now, if Gaara counted on the fact that she was closely related to Hinata and had spent the majority of her life in close relations with said woman, that slight quirk of her right eyebrow was a sign of amusement. Unlike her far more professional sibling, she actually snorted softly before handing the letter back, before settling back in her chair.

"If I may speak casually, Kazekage-sama, it may be easier for me to translate my father's annoying habit of being very flowery at times." Hanabi chuckled softly before falling silent. Folding the letter, he slipped it back into it's envelope and nodded his consent.

"_Find another forge for your ambitions, Tired eyes need only look toward the sun now._" Hanabi repeated off the top of her head. "Basically, no way in hell." Gaara felt his eye twitch, but held his tongue.

"Your lord father certainly has an unusual sense of humor to send such a response." Gaara kept his voice level and calm, but on the inside, he felt disappointed. The fact that they had sent such a… questionable reply meant that his problems could multiply.

"He means well, but fatherly emotions elude him sometimes." Hanabi admitted, running fingers through her hair. A pregnant silence was born between them, before she grunted slightly.

"Why do you say that?" asked Kankuro, seemingly reading his younger brother's mind.

"He's… weird." Hanabi grumbled, shifting in her seat.

"I see, but do you not think your father is jumping to conclusions?"

"Hrm, I see no reason to argue with him when I feel the same." Gaara twitched, fingers curling slightly.

"Have you even considered the possibilities?"

Hanabi sat up straight, feeling her temper flare up for a second. If Hinata knew what she was doing now, oh god, she'd receive hell, but Hinata wasn't here, now was she? "You people are all the same. It's really kinda old."

"Are you suggesting that the marriage proposal was a rouse of some sort?" Gaara questioned, voice growing dangerously soft.

"Hmm." Hanabi wisely shut up for a moment, watching him from the corner of her eyes. "Hinata is important to us. The branch family follows her willingly, and the people of our village rely on her. To simply give her away, like some kind of cow, doesn't really sit well with me, especially to pushy men who brand her like one." The barb in her voice was very sharp, and it took a considerable amount of time-tested patience not to react to it.

"Then why allow men to court her in the first place?"

"Because old men are, stereotypically, stupid and have a phobia against change. Minute they sense it, they go apeshit." Was that spite in her voice? Regardless, it was obvious that there was tension within the Hyuuga family. Was it worth it to get himself involved? Gaara admitted to himself he didn't really have an answer.

"From my past experiences with the current Hokage, change is inevitable with him around." Kankuro pointed out. Hanabi flinched in her seat, staring at Kankuro as if he had flipped her the bird and then started to whistle. The staring continued on for a minute of three, before she rested her chin against her palm.

"Nee-san says the exact same thing."

"You sister is very wise." Kankuro admitted.

"But that's not why you're pushing the issue are you." Gaara felt the muscles in his face twitch, but remained quiet, letting the obviously emotional girl continue digging her own funeral pit. "So, what do you want from the Hyuuga clan? Materials, contracts, a new bloodline?"

"We would benefit from them, but those are not the focus of our intentions, and we're not in any dire need of anything."

"Then what, I can't see much else being the reason. Resources, bloodlines, leverage, there always something to be gained from political marriages." Hanabi shifted in her seat, anger swimming through her veins.

"Why are you so concerned about this, if I may ask. It's well known that the Hyuuga often deal with such things."

"Because, this is my SISTER, not a piece of property." Her hand slammed to the table. "Just because she accepts it doesn't mean I'll let any egotistical, pampered asshole take her away."

"You're talking to the Kazekage, so you'd better watch your damn tongue." Kankuro snarled, taking a step forward, only to stop as his brother stopped him with a simple gesture.

"What if your sister agreed to it, regardless of your clan's customs?" Gaara asked, eyes smoldering with suppressed rage. Nervously, Hanabi licked her lips as she struggled to answer.

"…Supposedly if she were to willingly agree to it, I'd respect her wishes… I guess." She admitted, squirming in her seat. "Except my sister would never put herself before anyone else."

"Why?" Kunkuro blurted out, a little alarmed at the sudden moodswing.

"It's a personal matter."

"And she is mine." Gaara said suddenly, earning a surprised look from the two other occupants of the room. Closing her eyes, Hanabi sat up straight in her chair and took a deep breath.

"My sister has been described as the epitome of socially awkward, stubborn to the core, somewhat suicidal, having the worst case of self-doubt the person in question had ever seen, and a dozen other things, but if there are two things no one could dispute is her loyalty or her dedication. There is nothing people can do to make her break her word once given, even death." Hanabi rattled off, eyes still closed. "Along with the oath given to serve Konohagukure, she has devoted herself to the Hyuuga clan, despite the fact that we once left her for dead. If being abandoned by her own blood cannot sway her, what do makes you think she'd chose you?"

When Gaara remained quiet, Kankuro decided to take over, giving his brother a knowing glance. "Does that mean you approve of the match?"

"More like I'm in a playful mood." Hanabi admitted, a slightly cocky smirk on her face, "Truthfully, I don't think that'd it ever happen, but I'll make you a deal. If I know my sister, and I pride myself on that one point among many, I'm guessing she hasn't told you everything about the Hyuuga traditions when it comes to marriage. If you manage to get at least two in two weeks, then I'll give you my word. Find something special, and I'll give you an ace, fail and I'm taking my sister away."

"Seems to be awfully easy, what's the catch." Kankuro asked, eying the teenager in front of him. Hanabi just looked at the two of them, before closing her eyes and pointedly looking away.

"No catch, you won't succeed."

* * *

Hinata bit her lip as she walked down the hall, eyes locked onto the faint sliver of light ahead. The exit was in the other direction, she told herself, but still she continued on her way, until she stood in front of the Kazekage's door. Knocking against the door lightly, Hinata waited a moment before trying again, only to receive the same result. With a sigh, she turned around, only to smother a shriek and plaster herself to the door.

"G-G-Gaara!" It was all she could blurt out as the tried to convince her heart that taking residence in her throat wasn't a good life choice. The person in question merely blinked and reached around her, grasping the door knob and, more or less, herded her in. The sudden burst of light hurt her eyes, leaving her helpless to stop Gaara from pulling her towards the couch and wrestling the papers from her arms. By the time her eyes had adjusted to the room, Hinata was utterly befuddled with what was going on when she realized he was staring at the swollen lump on her hand. Automatically, she pulled the sleeve of her coat over her, nervously shifting in her seat.

"I'll order them to stop." Gaara said as he kneeled in front of her, pushing aside her hand and rubbing her fingertips across the skin lightly.

"N-n-no, I'll be alright. They haven't done anything too bothersome yet, really." Hinata mumbled, jerking her hand away, only to shiver as his fingers wrapped around her wrist, thumb rubbing gentle circles around the sore spot. It was then she realized that something was off; His shoulders seemed to sag and his eyes weary.

"Gaara-san, is something wrong?" Her simple question seemed to startle him for a second before the blank expression hid the evidence.

"No." A simple word, but a lie none the less.

"Was it my sister?" Hinata continued, feeling unusually bold.

"You sister is…." Gaara paused for a moment, unsure if telling her his honest opinion of her sister was the best thing, "Not used to how to deal with politics."

"Well, yes. She's only been at it for the last seven months really, since our family prefers a more… physical display of power then a verbal one…" Hinata admitted, a dusting of pink appearing on her cheeks. Gaara gave her a look, question in his eyes. "I… suppose you can call me a f-fluke."

"You're not a fluke." Gaara argued, fingers tightening around her wrist. Hinata made a wordless noise, turning her head away for a moment.

"How much trouble did she give you?" She asked, trying to change the subject. Gaara barely stopped himself from grunting, settling for a blank look. Strangely enough, Hinata groaned, free hand rubbing at her temples. "I'm sorry, I'll talk to her."

"Hn. She said some… troubling things during our meeting, concerning you."

"Th-that's certainly strange. Like what, if you don't mind."

"She… Spoke of abandonment." Hinata's shoulders jerked as her almost instinctively tried to pull her wrist from his grip.

"O-o-oh. I-I don't know what brought that up, b-b-but…" Her voice shook, fingers digging into the palms of her hand.

"What did she mean?" Gaara asked, tone stern. Hinata's wrist jerked again, but he held on tight, unwilling to let her run away.

"I… I…" Hinata stuttered out, desperately wishing she was better at lying. Mentally she grasped at straws, trying to figure out which event her sister could have been referring to… and didn't sound like her family were actively trying to erase her name from their ledger. "It's just that s-she never did… forgive my family when they… after my loss at the exams, had me discharged early and returned to the Hyuuga compound to recover."

She wasn't telling the whole truth, Gaara realized, and his grip tightened, wordlessly telling her that he didn't believe her.

"Gaara-kun, y-you're holding my wrist too tight." Hinata grimaced when he suddenly let go. She gingerly rubbed at it, noting that the skin would sport an ugly bruise soon. Her head snapped up when Gaara took a step back, a guilty look on his face, and Hinata slowly stood up. With exaggerated movements, she closed the gap, taking one of his hands and giving him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it's nothing compared to the things Kiba-kun has done in the past. I may not look it, but I am perfectly able to take some abuse."

Gaara gave her a concerned look, before carefully pulling the quickly bruising wrist and kissing her inner wrist. His hand trailed up to her cheek, smoothing the wayward side lock of hair behind her ear.

"I still expect an answer, eventually." Hinata jumped a little, trying to back away, but Gaara didn't let her escape again. Flustered, she let her gaze drop, staring at his chest, before lifting her head again.

"Eventually." She agreed, an uneasy tremor in her voice. Satisfied, Gaara let himself lean forward and caught her lips with his own, obliterating any thoughts (and protest) for as long as he could.

* * *

**AN, part 2**: It's come to my attention that Hanabi seems overly obsessive with her sister. I have my reasons for writting her like this.

Reviews really do help.


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